At least 36 killed as flooding, landslides hit Brazil

TV and social media footage from the town of Sao Sebastiao showed entire neighborhoods underwater, debris from hillside houses swept away by oozing earth, flooded highways, and cars destroyed by fallen trees, among other damage, according to France 24.

At least 35 people died in Sao Sebastiao, the state government said. A girl was also killed in the town of Ubatuba, news reports said.

"Unfortunately, we are going to have many more deaths," the state civil defense chief, Henguel Pereira, told the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

Another 228 people were left homeless and 338 were evacuated in the coastal region north of the city of Sao Paulo, the state government said earlier, as rescue crews raced to help those hit by the storm.

The authorities did not give a figure for how many people were missing or injured.

Sao Paulo state governor Tarcisio de Freitas declared a state of emergency in five towns along the coast after flying over areas devastated by the weather. He freed up the equivalent of $1.5 million for rescue operations.

MNA/PR