Disasters · Rio storm damageRio storms tower damage: 475,000 accounts lost power at the peakWritten November 9, 2026 at 2:42 PM UTCWatchTranscript0:07Storms cut power to four hundred and seventy-five, zero electricity customer0:11accounts at once.0:12Fallen towers damaged a line serving metropolitan water, intake infrastructure,0:16while families and beachfront businesses faced flooding and collapsed structures.0:19When will crews finish repairing the electricity line that also helps keep water0:23moving?0:23Enl's Mag, Altair distribution line lost towers in the S.0:26Ogonola region.0:28Enel Rio blamed intense rain, strong winds, and lightning.0:31The November7 storm also damaged homes in Areal do Cabo and beach facilities in Cabo0:36Frio.0:36The damaged line supplies electricity to the Imunana Laranja water intake system,0:41which serves the metropolitan region.0:43Water infrastructure needs electricity to run its machinery.0:46Damage to that connection can therefore reach beyond the homes and businesses0:49directly losing power.0:50The storm wide peak reached four hundred and seventy-five zero customer accounts0:54without electricity simultaneously.0:56That counts electricity connections rather than individual people.0:59It also covers the broader storm damage, so it can't tell us how many customers lost1:03power because these particular towers fell.1:05By November8.1:06And El Rio said technicians were working to recover the damaged line and restore1:10supply.1:11The company hadn't given a completion deadline for those repairs.1:14The wider network faced thousands of separate problems, spreading the restoration1:18work across the affected service area.1:19N.L.'s broader response involved five, five hundred and nine incidents and one1:23hundred and eighty five trees on the electricity network.1:26The utility mobilized one, one hundred and twenty teams.1:29Those crews were responding across the storm hit area, and the total doesn't tell us1:34how many were assigned to the fallen towers.1:36A wall collapsed inside a family home in Aural do Cabo.1:39Vanessa dos Santos Arago rescued her three children aged one, four, and seven.1:43The collapse damaged part of the house on Trevesa Anchova in the STO area.1:47Vanessa filmed herself crying amid the damage.1:50She said, I managed to save my children.1:52I am hurt all over.1:53She also said she'd lost everything.1:55Her account describes her injuries, but their severity wasn't medically confirmed.1:59Her family's escape was one part of a much wider emergency.2:02Responders dealt with rescues, unstable ground, and damaged structures across the2:05state.2:06The figures available on November eight captured that work while searches and2:09repairs were still unresolved.2:10Firefighters attended one hundred and thirty eight calls statewide.2:14Civil Defense recorded forty-eight rescues and thirteen landslide or collapse2:17occurrences.2:18One woman was reported killed in Guaratiba, and two people were reported missing in2:22Nova Igua U.2:24Those November eight figures are provisional.2:26The emergency figures overlap in what they describe, so adding them together would2:30give a misleading total.2:31The thirteen landslide or collapse occurrences also can't be used as a count of2:35homes destroyed.2:36The outcome of the searches in Nova Igua so wasn't yet known.2:39Rain and wind damaged kiosks at Praia do Forte in Cabo Frio.2:43The storm also hit stalls being prepared for a handicraft event along the2:46beachfront.2:47Organizers cancelled the event, disrupting the planned trading as well as damaging2:51the beach facilities.2:52Winds exceeded eighty kilometers an hour in Rio de Janeiro City.2:55Monitoring stations recorded gusts between four and five in the afternoon on2:58November seventh.2:59State Civil Defense had issued an extreme alert earlier that afternoon, and3:03neighborhoods flooded.3:04The largest rainfall accumulations identified were in Barra de Tijuca.3:07Jacarpago, Mendana, and Grotafunda.3:10Meanwhile, the advancing cold front kept further storms in the forecast as3:13electricity crews and emergency responders worked through the damage.3:16Further storms were forecast for November eight, with the broader severe weather3:20risk extending through Monday, November9.3:22Cooler conditions were also expected in mountainous parts of Rio State on both days3:27as cold air advanced across the country.3:29Repair crews were working on the Mag, L.C.3:31and Tetar line, but En O Rio hadn't announced when those repairs would be finished.3:35The November eight outage figure of four hundred and seventy five zero records the3:38storm's peak.3:39It doesn't tell residents how many connections were still waiting for electricity3:43that day.Read the articleStory timelineHeyDex
