Two adult sisters died when their home in a slum was buried in a mudslide, while a man drowned in another part of the city, the mayor's office said in a statement.
The rains began around Monday evening and had not let up by midday Tuesday, with a heavy downpour forecast through the end of the day. Some parts of the city got more than 21 cm (8 inches of rain within four hours, according to the mayor's office. That is three times the monthly average rainfall for April.
*World Weather* Major floods in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this morning, April 9. Report: Rodrigo Contreras Lopez pic.twitter.com/tuVHFSMhfk
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) April 9, 2019
Videos on local news showed normally calm residential streets turned into raging torrents that dragged people and cars. A coastal bike path meant to be a legacy of the 2016 Olympics, already weakened by previous storms, suffered more damage, with chunks of it falling into the sea.
"Rio de Janeiro lost three victims in these rains," Mayor Marcelo Crivella told an early morning news conference. "These rains are absolutely abnormal for this time of year; none of us expected so much rain at this time."
The mayor's office declared a state of emergency on Monday night. Major roads were closed, and the mayor's office said 785 places in the city were without power.
*World Weather* Flash floods in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last night, April 8. 200+ mm of rainfall in a span of only several hours. Report: Rodrigo Contreras Lopez pic.twitter.com/9c1zHib1Nl
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) April 9, 2019
*world* Flash floods in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil last night, Apr 8th. Report: Santos Gonçalves pic.twitter.com/vbueQ8bsmE
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) April 9, 2019
Comment: In February this year another powerful storm lashed Rio de Janeiro killing at least five people.
Extreme rainfall events are increasingly affecting countries all over the world. These articles are a small selection we have published during the past month: