Brazilian authorities announced on Sunday that the death toll from floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in the state of São Paulo (southeast) at the end of last week rose to 64 people, while on Friday there were 54 people. “64 people have been confirmed dead,” Sao Paulo state officials said. Among them, 20 men, 17 women and 18 children were identified.
The city of San Sebastian received more than 680 millimeters of rain in 24 hours, more than double the average monthly rainfall, according to local authorities.
In this coastal city of 90,000, about 200 kilometers from São Paulo, the country’s economic capital, about fifty houses were swept away by a landslide.
Official figures showed that more than 2,400 people were forced to leave their homes due to the disaster.
Experts attribute these extreme weather events to the combined impact of climate change and indiscriminate building.
In Brazil, 9.5 million people live in areas at risk from floods or landslides, and many of them live in slums without sewers.
