February 15, 1996 in Nation/World

Dozens Die As Rain Wreaks Havoc In Rio

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Several dozens died - among them eight children - with smashed skulls or smothered under falling mud and trash. Shacks slipped from cliffs. Whole neighborhoods were blocked off, leaving thousands stranded, and scores of schools and businesses closed.

The culprit: rain - nearly 12 inches of it in some parts of Rio on Tuesday alone.

The worst storm in 25 years left the “Marvelous City” in chaos on Wednesday, with Rio residents stalled in traffic, stumbling in the dark and cursing the officials who have acknowledged their helplessness to stem the devastation.

Since the start of the southern hemisphere summer less than two months ago, at least 124 people have died throughout Brazil in rain-related accidents. This week’s storms proved the deadliest, with 52 confirmed dead on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro state.

With Carnival beginning on Friday, and Rio government and businesses preparing to shut down completely, the forecast is for more heavy rain. As in other overcrowded Third World cities with overtaxed infrastructures, and millions living in precarious shacks on unstable ground, big storms have become almost routinely lethal.

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