Petrópolis hit by severe hailstorm causing damage and outages

A severe hailstorm struck Petrópolis in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday night, leaving streets covered in ice and causing significant infrastructure damage. The storm, which heavily impacted the districts of Nogueira and Itaipava, resulted in flooding and the fall of trees, utility poles, and walls.

Emergency response efforts involved the Fire Department, Comdep, ICMBio, and the utility provider Enel. While some roads, such as the Estrada União e Indústria in Corrêas, were reopened early Wednesday, sections in Nogueira remained closed to traffic.

The incident has drawn criticism regarding the response time of the utility company Enel Rio. Local advocacy group Movimento Petrópolis 2030 questioned the delay in service, noting that technicians took over five hours to arrive and de-energize lines after a tree fell on power cables. This delay occurred shortly after Enel announced a new operational plan intended to improve response times to extreme weather events through increased staffing and infrastructure investments.