Lightning killed a woman and seriously injured three members of her family on a beach yesterday Saturday in the state of Sao Paulo, in southeastern Brazil, an area that has recently been hit by heavy rains, authorities said.

“The lightning struck between the water and the sand on a beach in Villa Kaisara, Praia Granci,” the state’s civil protection said.

“A 60-year-old woman is dead”, while three family members are hospitalized “in a serious but stable condition”, the same source clarified.

Four other people were struck by lightning, but their condition is not life-threatening, according to authorities.

In Sao Paulo state, three people died in the past 24 hours as heavy rains and strong winds caused landslides and floods in at least six municipalities, according to Brazil’s official Agência Brasil news agency.

A man was killed when the vehicle he was riding in was swept away by rapids in the town of Sorocamba. In Limeira, two women were pulled out after being run over by a car, but did not survive.

In the state of Chios Grande do Sul (south), a storm resulted in the loss of two human lives on Tuesday, the governor of Eduardo Leite said yesterday Saturday through X (the former Twitter), giving the latest official account of the victims.

Last week, heavy rains and strong winds killed two people in the city of Sao Paulo and left thousands of residents without power for three days.

Southern Brazil has been facing extreme weather events in recent months, especially torrential rains and a devastating cyclone that left more than 50 dead in September. Experts warn that such phenomena, which they attribute to climate change, tend to occur more and more frequently.