Torrential rains kill 14 in Brazil

At least 14 people, including eight children, were killed and five others were missing in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state after a torrent of rains.

Two days of heavy rain have battered a broad swathe of the southeastern state's Atlantic coast, the latest in a series of deadly storms in Brazil that experts say are being worsened by climate change.

The region is expected to get more rain in the coming days.

A mother and six of her children are among the victims of a slide.

On his Facebook page, President Jair Bolsonaro said that the federal government had sent military aircraft to help in the rescue effort and that the national disaster response secretary had been dispatched to the state.

The city of Petropolis, the Brazilian empire's 19th-century summer capital in Rio state, was the scene of flash floods and mud slides that killed 233 people six weeks ago.

Paraty is a seaside colonial city known for its picturesque cobblestone streets and colorful houses.

A mother and six of her children, ages two, five, eight, 10, 15 and 17 were killed in a slide in the Ponta Negra neighborhood.

A seventh child was saved and taken to the hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Four people were injured.

In the city of Angra dos Reis, officials declared a state of emergency and a maximum alert after six more people were killed in the Monsuaba neighborhood.

Several people were rescued and five are still missing.

The mayor said that emergency workers were going to continue the search-and- rescue operation through the night if necessary.

Residents have been working side by side with us on the search, he said.

We will continue working hard.

The man was trying to help another person escape the flooding in Mesquita when he was killed.

The rains are record.

The storms turned streets into rivers in several cities including Rio, the state capital, sweeping up cars and triggering landslides, which is a frequent tragedy in the rainy season.

In the Rio suburb of Belford Roxo, Globo News carried pictures of a family in a styrofoam cooler with two young children, while residents posted videos of small alligators swimming through flooded streets.

The intensive care unit of the hospital in Nova Iguacu was badly flooded.

The city received up to 800 millimeters of rain in 48 hours in some areas, which is never before recorded in the city.

The rainy season downpours in Brazil are being augmented by La Nina, the cooling of the Pacific Ocean and climate change.

Global warming increases the risk and intensity of flooding because the atmosphere is hotter.

In December, storms killed 24 people in the northeastern state of Bahia, and in January, floods killed at least 28 people in southeastern Brazil.

There will be a new year in 2022.

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