Man and child die during storm in Rio de Janeiro

At least two people died during the rains that fell yesterday (7), in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In the city of Rio, a two-year-old girl died buried by a landslide in Tijuca, in the north zone. Firefighters from the Alto da Boavista barracks found the child already lifeless, under rubble. In Saquarema, a 27-year-old man was killed by lightning in the Vilatur neighborhood. The information is from the State Secretariat of Civil Defense. Across the state, the Fire Department responded to more than 240 incidents. More than 60 people who were trapped or stranded by the rains were rescued by rescue teams. Damage In the city of Rio, the rains caused flooding and river overflows, leaving the municipality in an alert stage. Important roads were closed to vehicles, such as Avenida Niemeyer, Estrada das Furnas, Estrada Grajaú-Jacarepaguá and Praça da Bandeira. Some buildings also felt impacts from the rain. At the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), the roof was unable to prevent the entry of large amounts of rain. In the Petrobras building, on Rua do Senado, some areas were affected by water and there was a need to turn off part of the power to the building and evacuate employees yesterday. Today, the servers of this unit will work from home. According to the city’s Operations Center, 113 Civil Defense sirens were triggered in communities across the city, due to the risk of landslides. Right now, the city is in the mobilization stage, the second level on a scale of five (the first is normality and the last stage is crisis). Moderate to heavy rain is forecast for today in Rio, according to the Operations Center.

Agência Brasil