Brazil storm death toll rises to 100: officials

Brasília (AFP): The death toll from torrential rains that triggered floods and landslides in northeastern Brazil has risen to 100, officials said Tuesday, as emergency workers searched for more victims.

The force of the landslides ripped apart houses in neighborhoods including Jardim Monteverde, a poor community just outside the city of Recife.

Rescue workers have found dozens of bodies buried in the mud that tore through the neighborhood on Saturday, and said they expect to find more.

At least 14 people remain missing, said disaster management officials for the state of Pernambuco, scene of the latest in a series of deadly weather disasters to hit the country in recent months.

President Jair Bolsonaro posted a video on Twitter that showed him flying in a helicopter over the disaster zone where brown floodwater inundated large areas and gashes of mud scarred hillsides where houses once stood.

“I tried to land, but the pilots’ recommendation was that, given the instability of the soil, we could have an accident. So we decided against it,” the far-right president told a news conference.

He recalled a string of devastating floods in Brazil that have killed hundreds of people in recent months, and which experts say are being aggravated by climate change.