Rains in São Paulo leave 21 dead

In the state of São Paulo there was a strong rainy season. Official sources have reported that so far there are 21 deceased people, among them, nine are minors.

The weekend rainfall resulted in landslides, overflowing of rivers, including flooding in different areas of São Paulo.

For this reason, 660 families had to be evacuated, according to the Civil Defense team.

Marco Vinholi, Secretary of Regional Development of São Paulo, told local media that a newborn baby was the last victim to die from a mudflow in Itapevi, located in the metropolitan area of the capital, being the most affected region.

The metropolitan area of São Paulo and the interior of the state remain in a state of alert, with possible landslides and floods, according to the National Center for Monitoring and Disaster Alerts.

São Paulo has 46 million inhabitants, a population similar to that of entire countries such as Argentina and Spain. The metropolitan region and the capital, accumulate half of the population of the region.

This environmental event joins the increase in cases of Covid-19 infections. Presenting the worst numbers of infected, having 4.6 million infected and approximately 160,000 deaths.

Heavy rains in recent years

In recent years, heavy rains have intensified in the area. These storms normally occur in the southern Brazilian summer, between December and March.

Between 2021 and the beginning of 2022, different Brazilian states have been affected by torrential rainstorms.

In northeastern Brazil, Bahia, approximately thirty deaths were reported, as heavy rainfall caused flooding of cities, for which 100,000 people had to flee their homes.

Likewise, in Minas Gerais (to the southeast), thirty people lost their lives due to situations caused by the rains. Ten of these deceased, it was because a rocky wall fell on top of the boat where they were, in a tourist canyon in the region.