Flash Flooding From Tropical Wave 40 Kills One, Leaves Six Missing in Caracas Region

Tropical Wave 40 dumped more than two months' worth of rain on Caracas in just 45 minutes on the afternoon and evening of August 22, flooding the Valle-Coche highway where 60–70 vehicles became trapped and roughly 20 people were injured, disrupting Caracas Metro service, and forcing emergency crews to rescue about 100 people. A woman was swept into a storm drain with her son after their motorcycle skidded on a flooded road; her body was recovered while the search continued for the boy. Four more people went missing after floodwaters swept away two vehicles in neighboring Miranda and Aragua states. The flooding struck a region still recovering from the June 24 twin earthquakes that killed more than 6,400 people two months earlier. The Caracas Metro restored full commercial service on August 23 after emergency brigades cleared roads and fallen trees.