Violent Hailstorm Turns Quito Streets Into Icy Rivers

Quito, Ecuador – A violent downpour of rain and hail buried the streets of Quito's La Mariscal district under a layer of white ice on Thursday afternoon (October 22), turning roads into fast-flowing rivers of slush that left drivers struggling to get through.

Footage filmed by Pame from a building overlooking the neighborhood shows hail piled across an intersection as murky water rushes over the road. White cars crawl through the icy slush with their brake lights glowing, one sinking up to its wheels as the current churns around it, while a red car sits parked beside an orange storefront as the water and ice pour past.