Authorities said Sunday that a severe storm that caused “record” rainfall has killed at least 36 people in coastal communities in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, causing flooding and mudslides during carnival weekend.

So far, 35 deaths have been reported in the municipality of Sao Sebastian, about 200 kilometers from Sao Paulo, the state capital of the same name, the state government said.

Further north, in a seaside town UbatubaAccording to local authorities, due to severe weather conditions, a little girl died.

“Unfortunately, we will have more, many deaths,” said Hegel Pereira, head of civil protection in Sao Paulo, according to the Folha de São Paulo newspaper.

The authorities also spoke of “228 internally displaced persons” and “another 338 citizens who were evicted from their homes.”

The authorities stressed that they managed to save a two-year-old boy who was carried away by a mudflow, and a pregnant woman who was giving birth.

“Buried World”

The Governor of São Paulo Tarcisio de Freitas, who examined the affected areas from the air, declared a state of emergency in six municipalities of the region, in the north of the state. His government has announced that 1.4 million euros are being allocated urgently for rescue and relief operations.

The municipality of San Sebastian, which attracts many visitors during the carnival, was among those hardest hit by bad weather. More than 600 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours, twice the monthly average, according to the municipality.

About fifty houses were flooded with torrents of mud. “There are buried people,” Mayor Augustu stressed.

Rainfall was “record-breaking,” he continued, describing the “extremely critical” situation.

As in other localities in the region, the schedule of carnival festivities was canceled due to deadly weather.

Lula in affected areas

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected on Monday in the affected areas. “I’m going to Sao Paulo to support efforts to overcome this tragedy,” he wrote on Twitter.

Footage posted on social networks or broadcast by regional media reveals the extent of the destruction: entire neighborhoods are flooded with water, fragments of houses are carried away by mud flows, roads are destroyed…

In another post, the Brazilian president promised to mobilize “all levels of government” to “treat the wounded, search for the missing, open roads, restore the power grid and communications networks.”

The state government said more than a hundred firefighters are fighting in difficult terrain with vehicles and seven helicopters.

The Brazilian Army was also mobilized, deploying two aircraft, and specialized civil protection units were also sent.

Meteorologists predict that heavy rains will continue in the state, hampering the work of rescue teams and raising the risk of more casualties.

Minister of Regional Integration and Development Valdiz Goes will also visit the affected areas today. “There will be no shortage of funds, personnel, or equipment,” he promised, speaking on the GloboNews TV channel.

Brazil, a country suffering from the effects of climate change, has experienced repeated natural disasters in recent years, with landslides and floods in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro state, killing more than 230 people in 2022.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.