The death toll from heavy rains that devastated coastal areas of Brazil’s southeastern Sao Paulo state reached 54 people on Friday, official figures showed, climbing from 50 casualties reported a day earlier.
Massive downpours have caused landslide and flooding in coastal towns of Brazil’s richest state, which has so far been hit by more than 600mm (23.6 inches) of rain, the highest cumulative figure ever in the country.
The number of casualties rose from 46 a day earlier, the São Paulo state government said in a statement.
Rescue operations were continuing and firefighters, police and volunteers still hoped to find people alive in the rubble of houses slammed by the landslides. 1,730 people have been displaced and 1,810 left homeless, according to the São Paulo state government.
The city of São Sebastiao, located about 200km (124.3 miles) from São Paulo, bore the brunt of the human toll, with 47 of the reported deaths. But nearby towns such as Ilhabela, Caraguatatuba, Bertioga and Ubatuba were also heavily affected.
The state government said more rain was expected as a new cold front favours the formation of heavy clouds over the region, with “moderate to heavy showers” forecast to fall until early evening, after a cloudy morning.
Government and private aid groups were scrambling to provide necessities, but the logistics of reaching the isolated towns was creating difficulties.
The homeless are being sheltered in schools, kindergartens and churches in São Sebastiao. About 7.5 tonnes of aid items including food, water and hygiene kits have already been distributed to the victims, according to the state government of São Paulo.
But not all aid has reached its intended destination, with criminals taking advantage of the chaos and looting trucks carrying donations, De Freitas told the G1 news outlet.
Brazil’s environment minister, Marina Silva, visited Barra do Sahy on Wednesday, a district of the hardest-hit mountainous coastal municipality of São Sebastiao.
While there, she was confronted by a local resident, Resident Reuri Nascimento, who told Silva he removed 22 bodies using his quad bike. He complained that victims of the floods and landslides had been abandoned and said supplies were not reaching them.
“Why aren’t the police here to help us? There’s food trafficking, we don’t know where the food is going,” he said.
SOURCE:REUTERS