Torrential rain leaves at least 11 dead in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO – Torrential rain that turned avenues into rivers killed at least 11 people in Rio de Janeiro, the fire department told AFP on Jan 14.

The rainstorm hit northern parts of Rio de Janeiro particularly hard, and people died in a landslide, drownings and electrocutions.

Firefighters were still searching for a woman who went missing after her car fell into a river as at the evening of Jan 14.

Water from the storm reached the roofs of cars on some stretches of Avenida de Brasil, a major thoroughfare in the city.

Mayor Eduardo Paes decreed the situation an “emergency”, and urged people to stay home for their own safety, and so as not to disrupt rescue and recovery efforts.

A dozen bus lines shut down, and several metro stations were closed because of water on the tracks.

Some parts of the city received a month’s worth of rain typical in January in just 24 hours, and a report from firefighters showed they responded to 200 storm-related events.

In Acari, one of the worst affected neighbourhoods, water flooded the basement offices of Ronaldo Gazolla hospital and businesses were hit hard.

“I arrived at work and everything was flooded. Every year, the same thing happens when it rains hard here, it turns into a pool, a lagoon,” said Ms Alexandre Gomes while trying to remove water from the store she works in.

A national agency that monitors natural disasters said there was a high risk of landslides in eight towns in the surrounding Rio de Janeiro state. AFP