A fallen tree due to heavy rain is seen in a neighborhood of São Paulo, Brazil, on October 12, 2024 (Miguel SCHINCAROL / AFP)
At least eight people died after heavy rains in Brazil, which also left more than a million customers without electricity in the state of São Paulo, authorities reported this Saturday.
Parts of the center and southeast of the South American giant have been registering storms since Friday, with up to 100 mm of rain per day, winds of 100 km/h) and hailafter going through a severe drought, according to the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet)
In the capital Brasilia, the downpours were widely welcomed as a relief after a record of more than 165 days without rain.
In San Pablo, the most populated state in the country, seven people died, mainly due to the falling trees and walls due to the violence of the winds and rainfall, reported the state Civil Defense. Three of the deaths occurred in the municipality of Bauru, inside San Pablo, where a wall fell on a man, a woman and a child.
In Brasilia, one soldier died and another was injured after a tree fell while they were removing a flag in front of the Army police headquarters, according to a note from the area’s military command.
Also in the capital of Brazil, officials had to open umbrellas inside the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies before a waterfall of rainwater that affected the electronic equipment in the roomaccording to images spread on media and social networks.
At least eight people died after heavy rains in Brazil, which also left more than a million customers without electricity in the state of São Paulo (AFP)
Large parts of the city of San Pablo were left in darkness due to the storms and at least 1.6 million customers were still without electricity service, said Enel, the energy service concessionaire in the largest metropolis in Latin America.
“In some locations, entire stretches of the network were damaged and it will be necessary to rebuild kilometers of network, change poles, transformers and other equipment,” the company said in a note.
The lack of electricity also affected the distribution of water in several regions. and that is why Civil Defense recommended that residents “make conscious use of the water stored in the tanks” and “if possible, reserve it until the distribution system is fully operational.”
This unleashed a wave of criticism from the federal and municipal governments towards the energy distribution company, Enel, which during the first hours of the day released a statement informing that in some places entire sections of the electrical network were damaged, so it will be It is necessary to rebuild new kilometers of network, replace poles, transformers and other equipment.
As of Saturday morning, the Fire Department recorded around 150 calls to respond to fallen trees throughout the metropolitan region.
In the municipality of Cotia, two people were seriously injured by an avalanche, they were rescued by security teams and taken to the nearest hospital, where they later died.
In recent months, Brazil has experienced its worst drought since records began, linked according to experts to climate change.
The dry weather favored the spread of fires – mostly of criminal origin according to authorities – in numerous regions.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
