Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave an aerial view on Monday of the extent of the devastation in areas of Sao Paulo state (southeast) where floods and landslides have killed at least 40 people, according to the latest official death toll released by authorities. .

“It is important that we work together (…) We must pray for the victims and that it stops raining so that we can start rebuilding,” the head of state said during a press conference shortly after the helicopter flight over from the affected area after the weekend’s torrential rains.

The Brazilian National Meteorological Service has issued a new emergency bulletin of dangerous weather phenomena for the next few days in the state: it expects new heavy rains.

In San Sebastián, a seaside resort 200 kilometers from the city of São Paulo, the financial capital of Brazil, some fifty houses were hit by a landslide.

In this city of about 90,000 inhabitants, 39 of the 40 confirmed deaths were recorded, according to the latest official tally, released on Monday afternoon, but there are fears that it will become even heavier in the near future.

“About 40 people have not yet been found,” Michelle Cesar of the Sao Paulo fire department told CNN Brasil.

Another death, that of a little girl, was recorded further north in the coastal town of Ubatuba.

“Extremely Critical”

“I don’t know what to do — I’ve lost everything. Fortunately, I was able to leave the house in time with the children, but everything was swallowed up by the mud, we couldn’t save anything,” Patricia da Silva, who is being hosted by friends along with her two daughters, 15, told AFP. and 9 years old.

“I don’t know where to go, the house is completely destroyed,” added Ms da Silva, 31.

Some 1,730 people were displaced from their homes and 766 were left homeless, according to authorities, who deployed 500 rescue workers, military and police personnel for search and relief operations.

A state of emergency was declared in five coastal towns where landslides cut off major roads, making access difficult.

In 24 hours, more than 600mm of rain fell, in other words twice the monthly average in this city, a destination for many during the carnival weekend.

The amount of rainfall “broke a record”, the mayor of the city, Felipe Augustou, said last Sunday, describing the “extremely critical” situation.

Yesterday, alongside President Lula at the press conference, he pointed out that “the reconstruction process will be long, because of the damage to the roads. There are districts that are still cut off. The priority right now is to search for survivors. Everyone has mobilized to find survivors in the wreckage.”

Urbanization and climate change

The center-left president appeared unifying alongside one of his fiercest political rivals, Tarquisio de Freitas, the governor of Sao Paulo state. The latter is a former minister of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, whom the 77-year-old Lula narrowly defeated in October’s election.

“It is important that we stop building houses in locations where residents are at risk of losing their lives due to heavy rains,” the president said.

Brazil’s National Center for Monitoring and Warning of Natural Disasters (Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais, CEMADEN) estimates that 9.5 million Brazilians live in areas exposed to the risk of landslides or floods, many of them in favelas—slums—the which lack basic infrastructure such as drainage.

Brazil, suffering the consequences of climate change, has repeatedly experienced terrible natural disasters in recent years: notably in Petropolis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where landslides and floods left more than 230 dead in 2022.