The storm that hit the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to the Baixada Fluminense and Angra dos Reis, on the Costa Verde, left one dead, several injured, missing and homeless. The heavy rain started around 4:30 pm this Friday (1st) and remained for more than 14 hours, causing several damages in the affected regions.
One person died in Mesquita, in the Baixada Fluminense region, after suffering an electric shock while passing through water in the central region of the municipality. According to the Fire Department, the victim is an unidentified man, appearing to be 35 years old, and in a street situation. In Nova Iguaçu, the Botas River has overflowed and the city is on high alert. The streets are flooded. The situation is critical and people are isolated in their homes.
green Coast
The city of Angra dos Reis, on the Costa Verde, was hit by a volume of rain equivalent to 655 millimeters (mm). On Ilha Grande, the rainfall recorded 592 mm. In the Monsuaba neighborhood, at least four homes were hit by landslides. Civil Defense was called and five people were rescued. Another 11, according to the report of relatives, are missing. The Fire Department works to locate buried victims.
All 28 sirens of the alert system, distributed in 20 blocks, which cover the risk areas, were activated during the dawn, to alert residents about the possibility of landslides and flooding.
The city hall of Angra dos Reis is providing shelters for those who are unable to stay in their homes. At the moment, 13 people are in shelters, located in units of the municipal education network, receiving support from the Department of Education and Social Assistance.
The Rio Santos highway (BR 101) has several points of partial and total interdiction, due to landslides and flooding, in the stretches that pass through Mangaratiba and Angra dos Reis. In both cities there were also recorded falls of trees and sliding of barriers. Between kilometers 446 and 599 of the highway, there are prohibited stretches.
Municipality of Rio
The Operations Center of the city hall of Rio reported that the city returned to the mobilization stage at 4:40 am this Saturday (2), due to the reduction of accumulated rain in the last hours. Before, the municipality was in the attention stage since 11:45 pm on Friday (1st).
At the moment, the Rio Alert System reports that Sumaré’s radar detects rain cores around the city and in the ocean, which may cause light rain in the coming hours, mainly in the coastal region.
The mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, in a message posted on social media, informs that, at the moment, the situation in the city is calm, but that it was complex during the night and dawn of today. “We don’t have any situation in a major way that is more critical. But you have some areas of the city, mainly in the western coastal zone, the Vargens region (Vargem Grande and Vargem Pequena), Guaratiba, parts of the western zone closer to the sea, you still have situations of flooding. Jacarepaguá also has complex situations. In the region of Grande Tijuca, the Maracanã River overflowed, but it is now normal”.
Paes also informed that the trend is for rain today, at first from weak to moderate. “So my request to you is that you stay tuned, if you can avoid unnecessary displacements, we thank you so that we can tidy up the city throughout the day”, he said.
