In-telligent Emergency Alerts Feed

At least 94 people have been killed by flooding and mudslides in Brazil's mountain town of Petropolis. Torrential downpours caused landslides that buried homes, flooded the streets and washed away cars and buses. According to authorities, more than 80 homes were struck by mudslides and the death toll is expected to rise. Petropolis' city hall has declared three days of mourning and people who have been displaced have been moved to schools and shelters. More than 300 people have been forced to leave their homes. Since December, heavy rains have triggered flooding and mudslides several times causing deaths, delayed harvests and a short delay in mining operations in Minas Gerais. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/heavy-rain-leaves-least-34-dead-brazils-petropolis-2022-02-16/

Gummen in Mexico have killed nine people mourning the death of a man who died in jail last week. The killings took place during two separate attacks in the northern city of Ciudad Juárez. The assailants first burst into a private home where mourners had gathered for a wake for the deceased man and killed two women and a man. Several hours later, gunmen attacked the location of the funeral service, killing six more people. Investigators believe that the two attacks were carried out by the same criminal organization. Ciudad Juárez has one of the highest murder rates in the country, with most of those murders being linked to rivalries between local drug gangs. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-60374881

Heber López, the director for online publication Noticias Web, was murdered Thursday afternoon in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico. He is the fifth journalist to be killed in the country this year, in what has already been a particularly dangerous year for media personnel. According to state officials, two men approached and shot López as he entered a home in the Barrio El Espinal neighborhood. The two alleged shooters are now in custody. The murder comes just days after an armed attack on another Oaxaca journalist, Pluma Digital Noticias director José Ignacio Santiago Martínez. The Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Journalists had provided Santiago Martínez with two bodyguards, who were with him at the time of the attack. He was not injured. https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/journalist-murdered-in-oaxaca/

According to the mayor of Quito, Ecuador, 28 people have been killed in the city in the biggest flood to hit the country in two decades. The incident also left 52 others injured, seven of whom have been hospitalized. Rescue personnel are still searching for a 38-year-old woman who has gone missing. A torrential downpour drenched the city for 17 hours straight, causing flooding and waves of mud that damaged roads, agricultural areas, clinics, schools, a police station and an electrical substation. Heavy rains have affected 22 of Ecuador's 24 provinces, resulting in at least 44 deaths in total. https://nnn.ng/ecuador-capital-flooding-toll/

A mudslide, triggered by heavy rains, swept into a residential area of Pereira, Colombia Tuesday morning, killing at least 14 people and injuring another 35. One person has been reported missing in the incident. Pereira Mayor Carlos Maya has confirmed the death toll and warned that the risk of landslides in the area still exists. He has urged people to leave to avoid further casualties. More than 60 homes have been evacuated by officials as teams assessed the damage and remaining risk. Colombian President Ivan Duque has sent his condolences to the families of the victims. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mudslide-kills-14-people-injures-35-colombia-82750987

At least 18 homicides were recorded in Zacatecas, Mexico, on Saturday, the highest number of murders in a day for any state this year. Ten victims were found on the street in Fresnillo and six more in a warehouse in General Pánfilo Natera. Murders also occurred in at least two other municipalities. Criminal organizations are believed to be responsible for most, if not all, of the homicides. A turf war between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel is taking place in Zacatecas, which is located on a drug trafficking route between Mexico's Pacific coast ports and the United States border. No arrests have yet been reported in connection with the homicides. https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/zacatecas-18-killed-one-day/

A light plane carrying tourists visiting the Nazca Lines in Peru has crashed, killing all seven people on board. Local officials say that the victims included three Dutch tourists, two Chilean tourists and two Peruvian members of the crew. According to Juan Tirado, a local firefighter, the plane crashed near the Maria Reiche airfield in the city of Nazca. The Nazca Lines is a Unesco world heritage site that is home to hundreds of massive geoglyphs dating back more than 2000 years and is frequently viewed from a plane to get the best view. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/04/peru-plane-crash-nazca-lines-tourists

At least 20 people are dead and 74 others have been hospitalized after consuming tainted cocaine in Argentina. Investigators believe that the drug was either laced with some kind of poison or cut with another substance. It appears as though everybody who was affected had acquired the drug from the same shantytown. Nine people have been arrested in connection with the distribution and investigators are waiting for the results of post-mortem examinations to compare drugs seized in the raid to the ones consumed by the victims. The regional security minister has encouraged anybody who has bought cocaine in the past 24 hours to throw it away. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-60235154

At least 24 people have died since Friday after torrential downpours struck São Paulo, causing flooding and landslides. According to State Civil Defense, at least eight children are among the dead and more than 1,546 families have been displaced. Authorities have deployed a group of firefighters, military police and civil defense personnel to help in cities that have been impacted. Additionally, roughly 15 million reais (about $2.8 million) will be allocated to the ten hardest-hit municipalities. Brazil has been experiencing an increase in average rainfall, as well as extreme rain events, since the 1960s and experts expect that those figures will continue to rise in coming years. https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/americas/brazil-floods-landslides-climate-intl/index.html

At least 13 people are dead and ten others are injured after their van overturned and flipped into a ditch on a highway in central Mexico. Twelve of the victims, including two children, died at the scene while the last one died later at the hospital. The accident occurred near the city of Lagos de Moreno, on a highway that links Guanajuato and Jalisco. The occupants of the van are believed to be Catholic pilgrims who were visiting a shrine in the nearby town of San Juan de los Lagos. It is common for Catholics to make this pilgrimage this time of year. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/13-killed-10-injured-accident-mexico-highway-rcna14088