The forecast for this Saturday (19) in Petrópolis is again worrying. The city should, once again, have quite significant rain conditions throughout the weekend. According to the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet), the Zona da Mata and the south/southwest of Minas Gerais and the Serra do Rio region are the only ones with “great danger”, with predicted rains above 60mm/h or above 100 mm/day.
This means, according to the Inmet alert, “a great risk of major flooding and river overflows, large landslides on slopes, in cities with such risk areas”, such as the municipality of Petrópolis, where it has been raining for at least four days.
“This rain in Petrópolis should not stop and should continue until at least Monday, with the risk of heavy rains”, warned the head of meteorology at Inmet, Francisco de Assis, who continued: “even if the rains are from 30 to 40 mm per day, they can cause a lot of inconvenience, as the soil is still very wet in the region”, he pointed out.
According to the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts for Natural Disasters (Cemaden), in its forecast of geo-hydrological risks for this Saturday, “the possibility of the occurrence of mass movement events in the Serrana Region of Rio de Janeiro remains very high, especially in Petrópolis, due to the high accumulated precipitation in the last 72 hours and in the last weeks”.
Also according to Cemaden, due to the continuity of rain, the possibility of new occurrences of floods and flash floods is considered high, mainly in the São Francisco rivers, but also in the Serrana Region of Rio, center, north, northwest and Baixada Fluminense of the state, as well as in Norte de Minas and Zona da Mata in Minas Gerais.
Cemaden’s coordinator, meteorologist Marcelo Seluchi, told CNN that the rain in Petrópolis on Tuesday (15) was the heaviest recorded in the city’s history. Records began to be made in 1932.
In just six hours, 260mm of rain was recorded – most of it 230mm in three hours. This was more than expected for the entire month for the city. The damage is greater because the storm was very intense and concentrated in the center of the city.
Source: CNN Brasil
