BRAZIL (CBS NEWSPATH) – Wednesday night’s torrential downpours and strong winds have killed at least five people in Brazil’s second largest city, Rio de Janeiro.
Rio de Janeiro’s climate operations center says strong winds of up to 68 miles per hour knocked down trees and caused heavy flooding in several streets.
Two buses were hit by a landslide and trees on Niemeyer Avenue.
A woman who was sitting behind the driver in one of the buses was killed.
The driver of the bus was able to escape with bruises.
The force of the landslide caused the bus to be thrown against the wall of the avenue, blocking a bike lane.
Elizabeth, a resident who has lived in the area for 39 years, says she has never seen anything like this before.
Elizabeth says the channels for the rain water were blocked in several places by debris, and “nobody does anything, nobody fixes it and then, something like this happens.”
Rio de Janeiro’s Mayor Marcelo Crivella announced three days of mourning for victims who died in the floods.
Firefighters identified Isabel Paes, 56, and her son Mauro Ribeiro, 33, who died in Vidigal, a favela in the southern part of the city.
The other three victims have not been identified.
The favelas, characterised by precarious housing – many built on slopes – were the places most affected by the
