Death toll from flooding in Brazil rises to 44

Rescue work continues after a torrential downpour introduced flooding and landslides to coastal space of Sao Paulo state.

Deadly floods and landslides in Brazil
The city of Sao Sebastiao accounts for 43 of the 44 deaths recorded up to now [Andre Penner/AP Photo]

The variety of individuals killed by flooding and landslides within the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has risen to 44 as rescue employees proceed to seek for survivors.

In an announcement on Tuesday, the state authorities mentioned that just about 2,500 individuals stay homeless or displaced by the catastrophe, with rescue work ongoing. Many roads within the area additionally stay blocked by mudslides.

“There was no strategy to go anyplace,” Gabriel Bonavides, who was in a rented home with mates when the catastrophe occurred, instructed AFP. “We left the automotive there and needed to return by boat.”

The city of Sao Sebastiao was the toughest hit, bearing 43 of the 44 deaths after a torrent of mud and particles swept by way of the city, leaving houses inundated and residents combing by way of the wreckage.

The floods got here after the city obtained a report 600mm (24 inches) of rain in simply 24 hours. Surveying the harm and assembly with native officers on Monday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva mentioned that the tragedy underscores the necessity for extra cautious constructing practices.

Pure disasters can grow to be extra lethal when paired with components like poor building or growth in areas liable to flooding.

About 9.5 million individuals in Brazil are estimated to reside in zones at excessive threat for flooding and landslides, lots of them in impoverished communities with improvised building.

The Sao Paulo area can be a well-liked vacation spot in the course of the Brazilian vacation often called Carnival and attracts guests with its famend seashores.

Carnival occasions had been cancelled in impacted areas corresponding to Sao Sebastiao, Ubatuba, Ilhabela and Bertioga.

Landslides are visible on the side of a hill in San Sebastiao
Landslides hit Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, after extreme rainfall on February 20 [Amanda Perobelli/Reuters]

Lula promised that Sao Sebastiao may “rely on the federal authorities” in a Twitter submit on Monday and mentioned in remarks the identical day that the city could be rebuilt with housing erected in safer areas.

Authorities mentioned that greater than 760 misplaced their houses in the course of the catastrophe and greater than 1,730 had been quickly evacuated.

Early on Tuesday, residents of Juquehy close to Sao Sebastiao had been on edge as renewed rainfall resulted in additional landslides. About 80 individuals left their houses, however no casualties had been reported.

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