SAO PAULO - Flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rain in Brazil claimed at least 36 lives on Carnival weekend in southeast Sao Paulo state, authorities said Sunday. TV and social media footage from the town of San Sebastiao showed entire neighborhoods under water, debris from hillside houses swept away by oozing earth, flooded highways and cars destroyed by fallen trees, among other damage. At least 23 people died in San Sebastiao, according to Mayor Felipe Augusto. A girl was also killed in the town of Ubatuba, news reports said. 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. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Twitter that he will visit the area on Monday. He has been on holiday since Friday in the northeast state of Bahia. San Sebastiao, 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Sao Paulo and where many people from the city spend the pre-Lenten holiday weekend on the beach, was hard hit, as a record 60 centimeters (nearly a foot) of rain fell in 24 hours, city officials said.
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