A strong storm with “record” rains caused at least 36 deaths during the carnival weekend on the coast of the state of Sao Paulo, where it is feared that the number of victims will grow, the authorities reported this Sunday.
In the municipality of Sao Sebastiao, located about 200 km from the capital of São Paulo, 35 deaths have been registered so far, the state government reported in a statement at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, a girl died in the town of Ubatuba, he added.
“Unfortunately we are going to have many deaths,” said the head of the state’s Civil Defense, Henguel Pereira, in statements published by the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.
In addition, there are some 228 evicted people and 338 evacuees in the coastal region north of the capital, where a state of calamity was declared in five municipalities.
The number of injured and missing was not specified by the authorities, who are working around the clock to help the victims.
The teams “continue during the night (of this Sunday) and early morning with the search, rescue and salvage activities,” said the Sao Paulo government.
buried people
The governor of the state of Sao Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, who flew over the affected area this Sunday, decreed a state of calamity in five municipalities in the coastal region. And he released 7 million reais (about USD 1.5 million) for rescue work.
Some 50 houses were washed away by water in Sao Sebastiao, and “there are still people buried,” Augusto said.
That municipality, on whose beaches many people from São Paulo spend the carnival holiday, was one of the hardest hit points: more than 600 mm of rain fell in 24 hours (more than double what was expected for the month), indicated the mayor’s office.
Those volumes were “exceptional and record,” said Augusto, who described an “extremely critical” situation.
The tragedy interrupted the carnival celebrations there and in other locations.
Lula visits the area
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit the affected area. “Tomorrow (Monday) I will go to Sao Paulo to visit the region and accompany the efforts to face this tragedy,” the president, who has been resting in Bahia (northeast) since Friday, wrote on Twitter.
Images of the area disseminated by local media and users of social networks show entire neighborhoods under water; slopes furrowed by the mud; debris from houses swept away by landslides; sunken roads and cars wrecked by fallen trees, among other signs of the damage.
Lula promised in another message on social networks to “bring together all levels of government” to “treat the injured, search for the missing, restore roads, energy and telecommunications connections.”
The damage in sight has not yet been measured. “We have not yet been able to gauge the size of the damage. The priority is to rescue the victims,” Augusto said.
More than a hundred firefighters work in the place, with vehicles and support from seven helicopters due to the difficulties of access, reported the government of Sao Paulo.
The army is also collaborating with search and rescue teams for affected people, as well as two aircraft.
The national government mobilized specialized Civil Defense groups, and provided funds to deal with the emergency.
The Minister of Regional Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes, who will also visit the rain-stricken region on Monday, told GloboNews that “there will be no shortage of resources.”
Amid the images of desolation, the authorities highlighted the rescue of a two-year-old boy who was covered in mud, and a pregnant woman in labor.
Brazil suffers the effects of climate change, with increasingly frequent extreme events, such as in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, where more than 230 people died as a result of heavy rains in February 2022.