Rio de Janeiro, in "crisis" because of torrential rains: at least 6 dead and panic among tourists – 07/02/2019

The torrential rains that hit Rio de Janeiro Wednesday night with winds of up to 110 km per hour left at least 6 dead, the mayor of a city that remains "state of crisis".

"We have several risk areas in our city, the soil is flooded, so there can be landslides, fallen trees" if the rains continue. "I ask people not to stay in these places," Marcelo Crivella said Thursday morning, while the forecast was for new but less intense rainfall.

Although the most affected areas are those of the favelas, several neighborhoods were also under water, where tourists tend to focus, including Argentineans, such as Copacabana or Leblon. Although the storm was at night, when visitors were safe in their hotels or apartments on Thursday, the climate was terrifying and confusing.

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Tourists had to stay in their hotels or homes, while the civil defense teams were trying to unblock the streets and avenues so that the city could regain some rhythm of normality. Airports and bus lines have operated regularly, it was reported.

The deaths occurred in the southern and western parts of the city, in the neighborhoods of Barra de Guaratiba, Rocinha, Vidigal and Niemeyer Avenue, a coastal road connecting the districts of Leblon and Sao Conrado. There, 2 buses were dragged by a landslide and the fall of a tree.

The microphone driver was able to leave and suffered minor injuries. With the force of the landslide, the bus was dragged and entered the bike path, according to the Globo Network's G1 site.

Part of the Tim Maia bike path, built for the 2016 Olympic Games, facing the sea, has also burst, causing no casualties. Mayor Crivella, who decreed three days of mourning For the deceased, he told reporters that it would take "more than a day to normalize" the situation on Niemeyer Avenue. On Thursday morning, two backhoes worked to try to remove a fallen tree in one of the buses, where it was presumed that there might be a victim.

In total, at least 170 trees fell, according to authorities. The rains started at 20:30 Wednesday and after 22:00, the emergency was declared.

Thursday morning at 8:30, there was 10 flooded areas in the districts of Leblon, Barra da Tijuca, Gavea, Ipanema, Itanhangá, Botafogo and São Conrado, complete tourist area, where visitors had to take refuge in hotels.

The Rio Operations Center (COR) has asked the Cariocas "to only move when in extreme need", to warn the authorities if "signs of cracks" are appearing in homes and homes. Be attentive to "sirens" which warn against the risk of landslides.

The southern zone, the most tourist zone, where favelas located in the hills and luxury residential areas meet, has been one of the most punished.

In Rocinha, the largest favela in the city, 153.2 millimeters of water fell in four hours, more than half of the historical average recorded in February. The emergency sirens alerted early to the risk of landslides and allowed the evacuation of many people, according to the civil defense.

Winds of up to 110 km / hour have been blowing in Copacabana, killing several trees on the busy Nossa Senhora Avenue in Copacabana, parallel to the beach, the CoR said.

Several streets starting from Botafogo Beach have been flooded, with fallen trees and traffic jams. They were produced in addition light cuts in the populated area west and north of the city.

The "state of crisis" decreed by the municipality is the third and most important warning about rainfall that can cause floods or landslides.

The weather forecast for Thursday is moderate precipitation, with isolated gusts and moderate to strong winds. The maximum will be 31ºC.

Rio had the hottest January this year since official records began in 1922, with an average temperature of 37.4 degrees.

Source: agencies