based on articles by Vitor Abdala and Douglas Correa Reporters Agencia Brasil

Rio de Janeiro - The rain started in the late afternoon yesterday and has fallen intermittently ever since. At times it was accompanied by winds of 70 kilometers an hour. Now, more than 15 hours since the rain began, authorities say there is grave danger of landslides everywhere in the city. Civil Defense officials are warning that its alert code is at its highest level. The mayor and the state governor are talking about states of calamity and emergency. The mayor has asked people to stay home. Public schools are closed and so are many stores in the center of the city. It is extremely difficult to travel around the city due to the many flood points.
Almost all of Rio de Janeiro’s neighborhoods have been negatively affected in one way or another: flooding, lack of electricity, buildings collapsing or in danger of collapsing. There are now reported to be 25 dead, and that number will certainly rise.
At 7:00 am Civil Defense and fire department spokespersons said they had registered 140 landslides and the collapse of 26 buildings.
Many urban and suburban trains are not running. The Santos Dumont airport (in the center of the city) has been closed on and off, as has the Rio-Niteroi bridge.
There are reports of landslides and deaths outside the Rio metropolitan area in Niteroi and Petropolis. Highways around Rio are also dangerous. Here is a telephone number for information: 0800--0173536.
Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English