WATCH: Officials in the World Cup host city of Natal have declared a flood alert ahead of the US team’s debut match against Ghana on Monday.
A month’s worth of rain has fallen in a matter of days on the World Cup city of Natal in northeastern Brazil, leading to a flood alert and raising worries that the deluge could affect the U.S. team’s debut match against Ghana.
There have been no reported deaths or injuries since the onset of heavy rains early Friday which only just abated on Sunday, dumping in 50 hours as much rain as is usually seen in the Brazilian city during the entire month of June.
With more rains forecast, some people worried that the weather could affect the U.S.-Ghana match on Monday afternoon.
City officials declared an emergency alert Saturday and evacuated dozens of residents as a precaution in the Mae Luiza neighborhood in the city’s west.
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News reports showed images of residents wading through knee-deep waters as others pushed cars submerged up to the door handles. Additional reports showed a huge crater cutting across a street in a residential neighborhood.
Floods can often be deadly in Brazil, where intense rains, chaotic urban planning and garbage-filled drainage pipes sometimes result in landslides that bury entire neighborhoods. Poor neighborhoods, often built up steep hillsides, tend to be hit worst by such flooding.
The southern Brazilian regions of Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul have also been hit by recent floods.
— With files from Associated Press
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