River overflows after heavy rain and floods highway north of Roraima | Roraima

River overflows after heavy rain and road is flooded in the north of Roraima

Heavy rain recorded in the early hours of this Tuesday (30) flooded a section of BR-174, the state’s main highway, in the region of the municipality of Amajari, north of Roraima. Images taken on the highway show a car stopped in the middle of the road covered in running water. (See video above).

State Civil Defense teams were sent to the municipality to inspect the highway. The suspicion is that the region is close to the Internacional River. The region recorded at least 70 millimeters of rain, considered normal for the period.

The images show cars and motorcycles facing water on the highway even with running water. After a strong drought in Roraima, the rainy season officially began at the end of March in the south of the state and on April 5th in Boa Vista.

This morning, it rained 40 millimeters in the capital, around 30% of the 130 millimeters of rain expected for the month of April, according to the State Foundation for the Environment and Water Resources (Femarh).

Femarh meteorologist, Ramón Alves, explains that the rains are in line with expectations for the month. Now, according to him, the state has started to experience the La Ninã phenomenon, a climatic event that impacts the frequency of rain.

“The forecast indicated that the rains would return on Monday or Tuesday, and in fact they returned with great intensity. This is the forecast for the coming days and months: rains close to the climatological average or slightly above, due to the beginning of the rainy season , which intensifies especially in May, June and July, the rainiest months within this period”, he explained.

The National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) issued a yellow alert for potential dangers of rain until this Wednesday (1st). This means that rainfall of 20 and 30 mm/h or up to 50 mm per day and intense winds (40-60 km/h) can occur.

Furthermore, there is a low risk of electricity cuts, falling tree branches, flooding and electrical discharges.