In Rio de Janeiro, at least nine people have died in heavy rain and flooding. As the fire brigade announced on Sunday, the deaths were reported from the northern districts of Brazil's second-largest city and surrounding towns. The victims died in a landslide, drowned or were electrocuted. One woman was reported missing after the storm.
In some parts of Rio de Janeiro, as much rain had fallen in just 24 hours as usual in the whole of January. The heavy rains flooded numerous streets during the night – cars were up to their roofs on the main thoroughfare Avenida de Brasil in the morning. Because streets and tracks were flooded, a dozen bus lines were shut down and several subway stations were closed.
Mayor Eduardo Paes urged people to stay at home on Sunday for safety reasons and not to hinder the rescue and recovery efforts. According to the Brazilian agency that monitors natural disasters, there was a high risk of landslides in eight cities in the surrounding state of Rio de Janeiro.
HEN/AFP