On the eve of the turn of the year, cities in the mountainous, northern and northwestern regions of the state of Rio de Janeiro are at high risk of storms. In the mountainous region, the risk is also high for landslides.
The mapping is part of real-time monitoring carried out by the State Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alert Center (Cemaden-RJ).
Across the state, nine municipalities are at high hydrological risk, the fourth step on a five-level scale. There are four cities in the northwest – Aperibé, Itaocara, Santo Antônio de Pádua and São Fidelis -, three in the mountain region – Cantagalo, São Sebastião do Alto and Teresópolis -, Campos dos Goytacazes, in the north, and Cachoeiras de Macacu, in the metropolitan region.
According to Civil Defense, high hydrological risk corresponds to events such as water depths on roads exceeding 0.15 meters; isolated points of flooding; small pockets of water and low possibility of rising river levels.
Slips
Macacu and Teresópolis Waterfalls are also at high risk of landslides, which means the chance of “landslides in the most critical sectors of the municipality, generally affecting several cut or natural slopes, in soil and rock”, according to the monitoring body.
For this level of risk, the Civil Defense advises people to “keep a family member vigilant of any movement on the ground” and “if the home is located in a risk area, you should seek shelter in the home of a friend/relative who is not located in a risk area or take shelter at the nearest municipal Civil Defense support point”.
According to Teresópolis city hall, due to the storms the city had 18 incidents mapped on Sunday (29), 15 of which were landslides, a tree at risk of falling, a street flooding and a sinking road. Nine people are homeless, five adults and four minors.
The region where it rained the most was in the Serra dos Órgãos National Park, which recorded a rainfall of 100.4 millimeters, which represents 100 liters of water falling on one square meter in 24 hours. The monitoring stage in the city is alert.
The state government reported that it maintains monitoring and teams on standby 24 hours a day. Due to the storms, teams were mobilized in the municipalities of Cordeiro and Cantagalo, in the mountainous region, on Saturday (28). However, there were no records of serious incidents or victims.
New Year’s Eve party
In the city of Rio, this Monday (30) there is a forecast of cloudy skies, with rain occurring at any time of the day, in the form of quick and isolated showers. On Tuesday (31), New Year’s Eve, the weather will be cloudy to partially cloudy, according to Alerta Rio, the Rio de Janeiro city government’s meteorological service, with a chance of isolated light to moderate rain from the afternoon onwards.
New Year’s Eve in Copacabana is expected to attract around 2.5 million peopleestimates the city hall.
