Floods, landslides kill dozens in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state
In the southeast coast of Brazil, torrential rain caused flooding and landslides that resulted in at least 36 fatalities and hundreds of displaced people.
In the state of Sao Paulo, footage from the town of Sao Sebastiao was broadcast on television and shared on social media on Sunday. It showed entire neighborhoods submerged in water, the wreckage of houses on hillsides being carried away by mud, flooded roads, and cars being hit by falling trees.
The town, which is 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Sao Paulo and where many residents of the capital spend the long weekend before the Christian festival of Lent, was one of the most hit, according to local officials, as a record 600 mm (24 inches) of rain poured in 24 hours.
The state administration of Sao Paolo issued a statement confirming that at least 35 persons perished in San Sebastiao. According to news sources, a seven-year-old child was also slain in the nearby village of Ubatuba.
Governor Tarcisio de Freitas of the state of Sao Paulo proclaimed an emergency in five coastal communities.
According to his government, 566 people were uprooted or rendered homeless.
The carnival in Sao Sebastiao, Ubatuba, Ilhabela, and Bertioga was postponed.
Mayor of Sao Sebastiao Felipe Augusto said, “Our rescue crews are not managing to get to various locations; it is a chaotic scenario.”
“There are still people buried,” he told GloboNews, “and we are working at nearly 50 dwellings that collapsed under the force of the water.”
