The abundant rains that have fallen since Friday in the State of São Paulo have caused at least 21 deaths, including eight children, and serious damage in a dozen cities, according to the Civil Defense. Some of the deceased were victims of landslides, which in the rainy season are usually lethal in dangerous areas inhabited irregularly for lack of better options. Heavy rainfall has also caused flooding, road closures, rivers overflowing and led to the eviction of more than 600 people in the most populous and richest state in Brazil.
The governor of São Paulo, João Doria, flew over the affected area this Sunday and announced an emergency aid of 15 million reais (2.2 million dollars).
The annual rainy season in Brazil began in October and has been wreaking havoc ever since. At the end of December there were floods in the State of Bahia, in which 24 people died, and a couple of weeks ago in Minas Gerais, where there were 19 deaths, rainfall forced the activities of the mining industry to be paralyzed and caused a spectacular fatal accident when a stone wall collapsed on some tourists in a lake frequented by its canyons.
The city of São Paulo, its metropolitan area (both have a population of over 20 million people) and the interior of the State remain on alert this Monday with a high risk of flooding and landslides, according to the National Center for Disaster Monitoring and Alerts. , quoted by Eph.
I am accompanying you with great sadness for the damage caused by the chuvas forts in SP. Minha solidarity with the families and friends of the 18 fatal victims. We are working on rescues and authorizing resources to collect the affected ones. pic.twitter.com/0yth5cisFp
– João Doria (@jdoriajr) January 30, 2022
The storm has also affected the vaccination campaign in the midst of an explosion of cases due to the omicron variant. Immunization for children between 5 and 11 years old began this month against the clock before the imminence of the start of the course.
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The governor complained about the lack of help from the Executive of Jair Bolsonaro: “The federal government is also responsible and must be supportive, it has the obligation to provide support, not only with statements, but with resources and personnel,” Doria said during a press conference in Franco da Rocha, one of the most affected cities, reports Folha de S.Paulo. Doria has been at odds with President Bolsonaro since the start of the pandemic, which the former faces guided by science and focused on first obtaining vaccines and then immunizing the entire population to return to normality.
The Ministry of Regional Development replied on social networks accusing the candidate for the October presidential elections of being an electoral campaigner. “The statements of Governor João Dória are surprising, since he seems to be unaware of the technical nature of the work of this ministry, which is not guided by electoral politics.”
Meteorologists predict a first week of February with rains above the usual in São Paulo and in two states located to the south, Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul.
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