Floods paralyze Rio De Janiero, Brazil

Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 7:11 PM -

Heavy rains flooded much of Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, submerging cars, crumbling some houses and paralyzing Brazil's second biggest city.

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes urged residents to stay home. Classes were cancelled at many schools, and there were significant ground and air delays and cancellations.

Major avenues north of the downtown area were left completely under water. Brazilian media showed residents riding jet skis and paddling boats to help others stranded in homes and on top of vehicles.

So far, no deaths have been reported. In the neighboring city of Nova Iguacu, hundreds were forced to leave their homes.

Local meteorologists told Brazilian TV that more rain fell over the last two days that what normally falls during the entire month of December.

The flooding comes as Rio scrambles to improve its infrastructure for the World Cup which is just six months away.