BFloods and landslides triggered by torrential rains killed at least 19 people over the carnival weekend in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Another 228 people lost their homes and 338 were evacuated in the coastal region east of the city of São Paulo, authorities said. At first they did not comment on the number of missing people. The governor of the state of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, declared a state of emergency in five cities along the coast.
São Sebastião, where many people from São Paulo, around 200 kilometers away, spend the carnival weekend, was one of the hardest hit. According to the city administration, 60 centimeters of rain fell within 24 hours. The city’s mayor, Felipe Augusto, spoke of an “extremely critical” situation, and carnival events in the city were canceled.
Images on television and online networks show entire neighborhoods in the city of Sao Sebastiao being submerged and debris being washed away from homes. It also shows flooded highways and cars damaged by fallen trees.
In the midst of the sad events, there were also “two miracles”, the government of São Paulo tweeted. A trapped two-year-old child and a pregnant woman in labor and her baby were rescued.
Last year, more than 230 people died in floods and landslides in the city of Petrópolis in southeastern Brazil.
