At least 36 people died during the weekend of Carnival in southeast Sao Paulo State as a result of flooding and landslides brought on by severe rain in Brazil.
News and social media footage from the municipality of São Sebastiao displayed numerous damages, including entire neighborhoods submerged under water, hillside house rubble washed away by leaking dirt, flooded roadways, and cars totaled by falling trees.
According to the state authorities, Sao Sebastiao saw at least 35 fatalities. According to news sources, a girl was also killed in the town of Ubatuba.
“Unfortunately, we are going to have many more deaths,” the state civil defense chief, Henguel Pereira, told the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.
The state government previously reported that 338 people were evacuated and another 228 were left homeless in the coastal area north of Sao Paulo as rescue workers rushed to aid those affected by the storm.
The number of people who were either missing or hurt was not disclosed by the police.
Governor of Sao Paulo state,Tarcisio de Freitas, flew over weather-devastated districts and proclaimed an emergency in five coastal municipalities. He made the equivalent of $1.5 million available for rescue efforts.
On Monday, the region will welcome President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who announced the visit through Twitter. He has been on vacation in the Bahia state of northeast Brazil since Friday.
A record 60 cm (almost two feet) of rain fell in 24 hours at Sao Sebastiao, 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Sao Paulo, where many residents of the city spent the pre-Lenten holiday weekend on the beach.
It amounts to more than twice what typically falls in a month.
“We have not yet gauged the scale of the damage. We are trying to rescue the victims,” said Sao Sebastiao Mayor Felipe Augusto, calling the situation in the town “extremely critical.”
“We are working at nearly 50 residences that collapsed under the force of the water and there are still people buried,” he told Globonews.
