For seven humid, wakeful nights, the crash of thunder and flash of lightning had kept the cariocas awake, and the superstitious among them wondered if the gods of darkness had decided to unloose their wrath. Apparently they had. Abruptly the skies opened over Rio, and in four days torrential rains dumped nearly two feet of water on the city. Declared Guanabara (Rio) Governor Francisco Negrāo de Lima: "This was not a rain; it was a Biblical deluge."
Hurt worst were the favelas, the shantytowns that house one-quarter of Rio's 4,000,000 inhabitants. Many of the favelas cling precariously to steep hills....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
