Brazil: Violent storm in Rio Janeiro leaves 11 dead

In the last 24 hours, the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has faced a devastating situation due to heavy rains that have caused the death of at least 11 people and the disappearance of a woman, who is being intensely searched for by rescue teams. Due to the seriousness of the situation, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, has declared an “emergency situation”, which has mobilized aid crews to attend to the victims. The rainfall has been so intense that some regions of the city recorded more than 200 millimeters of rain in a single day, significantly exceeding forecasts for the entire month of January. Avenida Brasil, one of the city’s main arteries, was hit with water levels that reached the hoods of vehicles and forced shopping malls to go out of operation. In response to this, the Rio Fire Department has responded to some 200 events related to rescues and interventions for floods and landslides. In addition, the mayor called on the population to stay in their homes and avoid displacement, so that they do not put their lives at risk and do not hinder the work of emergency teams. Meanwhile, the weather forecast indicates that the rains will persist through Sunday, but there would be an improvement for Monday, which would bring temperatures ranging between 26 and 32 degrees Celsius.

Original source in Spanish