The number of deaths from the record rains that hit the southeast of Brazil rose to 65, the authorities reported this Sunday after the discovery of another body a week after the storm.
“So far, 65 deaths have been confirmed,” of which “21 men, 17 women and 19 children” have already been identified, the Sao Paulo state government reported in a statement at night, which in the morning had reported 64 deaths. .
Sao Sebastiao, a beach resort some 200 km from the city of Sao Paulo, received more than 680 millimeters of rain in 24 hours last weekend, more than double what was expected for the entire month and the largest cumulative volume. in a day in the history of Brazil, according to the authorities.
After the discovery of another lifeless body on Sunday afternoon, the authorities concluded the search for the missing in the region most affected by the storm, the Vila do Sahy neighborhood, according to what the GloboNews news channel published, citing Civil Defense sources.
The Sao Paulo government, which during the week reported some thirty missing persons, did not answer AFP’s questions about whether the search was continuing in other places.
More than 2,400 people were still displaced from their homes, according to the latest official balance.
“Residual Landslides”
The National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters (Cemaden) alerted the population of Sao Sebastiao about the possibility of “residual landslides” occurring in the next few hours due to “isolated showers” expected in the region for Monday.
Although “these are not widespread events or of the same magnitude as those of last weekend,” he pondered.
The governor of Sao Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, admitted on Thursday that the system of alerting the population by text messages was not enough to prevent the tragedy and announced the installation of sirens in risk areas and the construction of houses for the homeless. .
Experts attribute this type of extreme event to a combination of the effects of climate change with uncontrolled urbanization.
In Brazil, 9.5 million people live in risk areas subject to landslides or floods.