SAO PAULO, March 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – At least 21 people have been killed
in torrential rain that hit the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Rio de
Janeiro, triggering flash floods and destroying homes, authorities said
Tuesday.
Another 32 people are missing in Sao Paulo, raising fears the toll could
rise further.
Violent storms in recent days have dumped a month’s worth of rain on some
areas in a matter of hours, devastating the southern coast of Sao Paulo state
and poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the country’s
second most populous city.
At least 16 people were killed early Tuesday in Sao Paulo state after
floods and landslides hit the coastal cities of Santos, Sao Vicente and
Guaruja, authorities said.
One of the victims was a rescue worker who was killed by a landslide.
“I express my solidarity with those who are suffering from these heavy
rains,” Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria wrote on Twitter.
Several highways were blocked by fallen trees and landslides, including
some linking Santos, the biggest port in South America, to Sao Paulo,
Brazil’s largest city and economic capital.
In Rio de Janeiro, authorities said the death toll had risen to at least
five after three days of violent rain that destroyed houses, swept away cars,
and left some communities covered in water or mud.
The victims were electrocuted, buried in landslides or drowned, emergency
officials said.
The disaster turned political in Rio when the city’s Mayor Marcelo
Crivella, a far-right evangelical Christian bishop, blamed residents for the
flooding.
During a visit to an affected community, he complained to journalists that
“people can’t be throwing trash on hillsides, in storm drains and in the
street.”
In the middle of the press conference someone pelted Crivella in the face
with a mud ball — which was captured in a video that went viral online.
“The water knocked my granddaughter and I and off the sofa. Dirty water
came flooding into my kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, everything. I lost
everything,” Ivone Cardoso, 65, a resident of Rio’s Realengo neighborhood,
told AFP as she swept mud and water out of her house.
Brazil is having an especially intense rainy season this summer.
In January, more than 50 people were killed in Minas Gerais state, which
neighbors Sao Paulo, in several days of violent rain.