Geography Blog: Tropical Storms in Rio

Rio de Janeiro is known for its beautiful beaches and its historical culture that attracts tourists. However Rio has faced deadly storms over time.

It is not as common for Rio to face such storms but a week after Rio was hit with torrential rains and mudslides they were hit by a massive storm surge. An extra tropical cyclone or a storm that forms outside the tropics along the coast of Rio was believed to cause the surge. Flooding the streets of Rio and producing huge waves. Extra tropical cyclones are common in South Atlantic but usually don’t form on the coast of Rio according to meteorologist Alexander Aguair.

Waves along Brazil coast

Brazil has also never had a Hurricane but some believe Brazil was hit by the first Hurricane in South Atlantic. Brazilians struggled to understand what they were hit by and many believe it was a Hurricane. The storm left 3 people dead and 38 injured. U.S. officials say the storm struck 520 miles from Rio and had winds over 75 miles per hour. Some still believe the storm that hit Brazil was not actually a Hurricane but the U.S. National Hurricane Center believe it was a Hurricane and estimated to be a category 1 with wind speed up to 94 miles per hour. Many were not convinced the storm that hit Brazil was actually a Hurricane but whatever it was it was deadly to the people and damaged many homes and landscape.