RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The storm that hit the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro yesterday afternoon, December 23rd, has moved into the Atlantic Ocean but has left pockets of water that hinder displacement in various transport modes.
Major roads in the city such as Brasil, Ayrton Senna, and Pastor Martin Luther King Jr. avenues show an accumulation of water on the pavement. In the south zone, the neighborhoods of Catete and Botafogo are also affected.
On Brasil Avenue, the issue was found around Caju, Benfica, Olaria, and Cordovil. Ayrton Senna, on the other hand, was affected by the waterfront to Gardenia Azul, with a water pocket near the Via Parque Shopping Mall.
In the city center, the accumulation of water affects the VLT traffic, which had its three lines paralyzed around 3 PM. Twenty minutes later, lines 1 and 3 were again running at irregular intervals, and Line 2 remained suspended.
Supervia trains were also affected by the rain, which damaged the signaling system on the stretch between Gramacho and Central Station. The breaks in the stretch are irregular, according to the concessionaire.
Santos Dumont Airport, downtown, was closed between 2:41 PM and 3:01 PM and has been operating with the help of instruments ever since. One flight was forced to wait for the weather to improve in order to take off and two waited in the air for landing.
At Rio de Janeiro International Airport, instrument operation was also required for one hour. However, at 4 PM, the airport was already operating visually.
Due to the rain, two flights that would land at Santos Dumont were displaced to Tom Jobim, RioGaleão concessionaire reported.
Source: Agência Brasil