Douglas Corrêa and Vladimir Platonow     Reporters Agência Brasil

Rio de Janeiro – City Hall clean up crews have removed 310 tons of mud and debris after a huge rainstorm on Monday night (April 25). Working with 12 trucks, three bulldozers and high-powered water hoses, streets and sidewalks were cleaned up.

Civil Defense officials said they had over 370 calls for assistance during the storm on Monday. In many parts of the city cracks appeared in walls in buildings and homes and there were numerous threats of landslides. One of the hardest hit areas of the city was the neighborhood around the Maracaná stadium where important games are scheduled during the 2014 World Soccer Cup.

Another area of concern was the hillside slum known as Morro São João, near the Morro dos Macacos, a region that was recently taken over by police forces after drug lords were driven out. The takeover, led by Pacification Police Units (“UPPs”), is part of a state project to pacify slums that have been controlled by drug traffickers for years. However, the homes in the slum are precariously perched on hillsides and in danger of collapse. Most of the area has been considered an area of risk since the 1990s.

The worst hit regions of the city were: Tijuca, Vila Isabel, Praça da Bandeira, Engenho Novo e Rio Comprido.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - Equipes de limpeza retiram mais de 310 toneladas de lama e lixo da região da Tijuca após temporal no Rio

Link - Após temporal, casas ameaçam desabar em morro pacificado do Rio