Deadly windstorm slams Rio and São Paulo, killing five and crippling transport
Power outages and halted transit followed gusts of up to 111 km/h in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo state, leaving five people dead.
Intense gusts of up to 111 km/h battered Rio de Janeiro and parts of São Paulo state, causing widespread power failures and bringing public transport to a standstill. In Rio, dozens of trees fell just before the morning commute, forcing subway services to cease and leaving thousands of commuters stranded. The fire department reported two fatalities after a wall collapsed, and a fisherman remains missing in the coastal town of Tarituba.
In the São Paulo city of Santos, a homeless individual was killed by a downed tree. Airport operations were disrupted, with Santos Dumont Airport halting flights for roughly two hours. Overall, the storm resulted in five deaths and significant infrastructure damage across the region.
Why it matters
The storm caused deaths, power loss and transport chaos, highlighting vulnerability of Brazil’s urban infrastructure to extreme weather.
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