Recife
A police helicopter flies over the roof of the Arena Pernambuco before the German national soccer team start their training session in Recife, June 25, 2014. Reuters

A massive downpour caused significant flooding in Recife, Brazil, just hours before the city is slated to host a crucial World Cup match between the United States and Germany.

Thursday’s USA vs. Germany match will be held at Arena Pernambuco, about an hour outside of Recife. Over the past day, storms have dropped 25 percent of the monthly average of rainfall in the region, Al-Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo reports.

Recife motorists pushed cars rendered useless by high water levels. USA Today editor Mike Foss described traffic in the city as “utterly gridlocked,” a development which is expected to significantly reduce the number of fans able to attend the match.

FIFA dispatched referee Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan Thursday morning to observe field integrity at the arena, Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports reports. Irmatov will referee the USA vs. Germany matchup. Barring utterly unplayable conditions, the match will proceed as scheduled at noon ET. ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap, who is at Arena Pernambuco, reports that the field will “have to be dreadful for [the] game to be postponed.”

Here’s a roundup of photos of the flooding in Recife.

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