The heavy rain that hit the capital of Acre on Friday night (25) caused a lot of damage and, in less than two hours, reached almost 80 millimeters. According to the Municipal Civil Defense, the accumulated amount corresponds to almost 90% of the entire volume expected for September, with an estimated average of 92.6 millimeters.
The storm caused 17 incidents attended by Fire Department and Civil Defense teams. More serious situations were recorded in 14 neighborhoods.
Among the calls are flooding, trees falling on homes and on public roads, risk of collapse and the fall of a tower.
"The winds varied around 45 km/h, however, due to the strong gusts, they reached 70 km/h. These are the gusts that knock down trees and cause more damage. The greatest amount of rain occurred in the first 30 minutes, but, after two hours, the storm still came and went punctually", said the coordinator of Rio Branco's Civil Defense, Colonel Cláudio Falcão.
Furthermore, he explained that the teams remained mobilized throughout the night to respond to incidents and adopt measures to reduce risks to the population. According to the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet), Acre and five other states were on yellow alert for intense rain.
According to the institute and Civil Defense, Acre, Rondônia, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Roraima and Pará recorded rain and intense winds between 40 and 70 km/h). Despite the low risk, there were still situations of electricity cuts and flooding in the capital of Acre.
One of the situations was recorded by doctor Lukas Vieira, who was passing through Rua Isaura Parente and had to take shelter in a bar. According to him, in a period of 10 minutes of intense rain, water from the street entered the establishment, completely flooding the space.
"Everything happened very quickly and the heavy rain flooded everything. We were passing by, but, due to the wind, we stopped there to take shelter. The owner had to turn off the electronic devices that were on and were on the floor due to the risk of electric shock. Thank God he was not injured, but we were scared", he highlighted.
Civil Defense advises residents to pay extra attention during and after rain, especially in areas subject to flooding, landslides and falling trees. The recommendation is to avoid traveling through places considered to be at risk.
Among the points hit by this Friday's storm is also the area where the traditional Solidarity Economy fair takes place, in Lago do Amor. The force of the wind toppled stalls and caused damage to traders.
The rain started around 6:20 pm. Videos recorded by stallholders show the damage at the site, with toppled stalls and points of water accumulation. According to the coordinator of the Acre Forum for Solidarity Economy, Carlos Taborga, the wind also hit the electrical part of the tents.
Some merchants' objects and products got wet. Marketers came together to help each other after the damage caused by the storm. "We're still going to do repairs on the electrical part, because we turned everything off in time. There was a coming together of entrepreneurs, one helping the other and I was happy because I saw that unity is strength", he added.
The month of September has been recording a sequence of rainy days that are unusual for the period in Rio Branco, which is usually dry and lacks rainfall. However, according to the Municipal Civil Defense, the accumulated result is within expectations for the ninth month of the year.
Until this Wednesday (23), 81 millimeters of rain were recorded, with the historical average for the month being 92 mm. For the coordinator of Rio Branco's Civil Defense, lieutenant colonel Cláudio Falcão, the behavior of the rains draws attention because it occurs in a period normally of drought.
"It is a little out of the norm and even atypical given that we are used to drier weather and fires. However, even so, [the volume] is still within expectations", he explained previously.
