Rio de Janeiro windstorm kills two, sparks blackouts and transport chaos
A severe windstorm swept through Rio de Janeiro and other parts of southeastern Brazil on 29 July 2026. The gusts reached up to 105 km/h in Rio and exceeded 120 km/h in interior São Paulo, causing two confirmed deaths in the Santa Teresa neighbourhood and leaving a fisherman missing off Angra dos Reis. The city declared a Stage 2 alert and ordered residents to stay indoors.
Power outages affected more than 1.34 million households, cutting electricity to roughly four million people. The concessionaire Light reported an external fault as the cause. Metro lines 1 and 4 were partially restored while line 2 remained suspended; the BRT system and suburban trains were also halted. Santos Dumont Airport suspended operations and Galeão Airport diverted several flights.
The storm also damaged infrastructure in other states: fallen trees and downed poles disrupted streets and power in Araucária (Paraná) and caused tree‑related blockages in the coastal towns of the Costa Verde. The Port of Santos halted navigation for several hours. Overall, the event caused multiple fatalities, widespread blackouts, transport paralysis and significant material damage across the region.
Entities: Brazil · Commission on Transport and Urban Mobility (CTMU) · Corpo de Bombeiros Militar do Rio de Janeiro · Corpo de Bombeiros do Rio de Janeiro · Distrito Federal Government · Eduardo Cavaliere · Light · Light (energy concessionaire) · Max Maciel · Metro-DF · Metrô Rio · Rio de Janeiro
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 2 SOURCES] Galeão Airport recorded winds of up to 72 km/h and had five flights diverted due to the storm. (airport operator)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Rio de Janeiro city authorities raised the alert level to stage 2 on July 29, 2026. (city alert system)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] BRT line 67 operated with irregular intervals after a tree fell and damaged a roof. (BRT operator)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Santos Dumont Airport experienced a blackout at approximately 16:40 on July 29, 2026. (airport authority)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] A fallen tree injured a man who was rescued with no serious injuries during the windstorm. (local reports)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Power outages affected multiple neighborhoods and disrupted metro, train, VLT, barcas and BRT services in Rio de Janeiro. (transport operators)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Winds in Rio de Janeiro reached up to 105 km/h at Galeão International Airport on July 29, 2026. (reported by multiple sources)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] A vortex (redemoinho) formed near the Petrobras headquarters in downtown Rio and was recorded on video. (social media footage)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Wind gusts reached up to 105 km/h in Rio de Janeiro on July 29 2026. (multiple sources)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Rio de Janeiro municipality declared a Stage 2 alert due to the storm. (multiple sources)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Flights at Galeão airport were diverted or canceled because of the storm. (multiple sources)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Metro, urban trains, BRT and both Santos Dumont and Galeão airports were suspended or partially halted. (multiple sources)