Ubatuba, Ilhabela, São Sebastião and Caraguatatuba suffer from floods and landslides; Bertioga decrees a state of emergency and stretches of the Rio-Santos Highway remain interdicted
The heavy rains that hit the north coast of São Paulo this weekend left at least 19 deaths. Initially, the Fire Department had confirmed three deaths, but the Civil defense released late this Sunday afternoon, 19, updated to 19 dead, 228 displaced and 338 homeless. The most affected cities were Ubatuba, São Sebastião, Ilhabela, Caraguatatuba and Bertioga. As Jovem Pan showed, a seven-year-old girl died early this Sunday after a rock slid and hit the house she was staying in. Ubatuba. The incident took place on Rua Benedito Alves da Silva, in the Pereque-Açu neighborhood and the incident was attended to by the Find (Mobile Emergency Care Service), which confirmed the death at the scene. The stone was removed while the site was preserved for forensics. According to Roads Department (DER), several stretches of the Rio-Santos Highway remain interdicted, either due to falling trees or flooding. already the you know informed that the rains are affecting the water supply in about 40 neighborhoods of Ubatuba. The company claims that the water treatment “had to be stopped due to the large amount of branches, mud and stones”. The company also warns that properties without a water tank may experience shortages.
Two more deaths occurred in San Sebastian, being a 40-year-old woman, identified by the City Hall as Fabiana de Freitas Sá, coordinator of the Happy Child Program, linked to the Secretariat for Economic and Social Development, and a nine-month-old baby, who died in the neighborhood of Camburi, one of the most affected by the weather. The city mayor, Philip Augustus (PSDB), declared a state of public calamity and canceled Carnival in the city, known as Carnamar. The festival will be rescheduled for a new date. Data recorded by the automatic pluviometers of the Cemaden (National Center for Monitoring and Alerts on Natural Disasters) are exceptional and record for the city. On Barra do Una, Juquehy, Cambury and Boiçucanga beaches it rained more than 400 millimeters in a period of four hours. There are stations where volumes exceed 600 millimeters in 24 hours. Fire crews continue in rescue and search operations for the missing throughout the region. The corporation claims that since 9 am it has already registered a record number of requests coming from the four municipalities that make up the north coast of São Paulo. The city of Beautiful island recorded 12 service requests; Ubatuba, 66 requests; Caraguatatuba, 101 requests; and São Sebastião, which declared a state of public calamity, 481 requests.
In an exclusive interview with Young Pan Newsthe governor Tarcisio Gomes de Freitas (Republicans) announced the use of two Brazilian Army aircraft to rescue stranded residents and transport wounded people. According to him, hospitals in Caraguatatuba and São José dos Campos, the latter in the Paraíba Valley, are already prepared to receive the wounded. If necessary, the victims will also be sent to the Hospital das Clínicas, in the capital of São Paulo. “What we are seeing is that the situation is really very critical. We have a big challenge now which is access limitation. There are several points of landslides in Rio-Santos at different points, both in the south and in the north, so we have isolated areas. Our goal now is to do immediate clearance. We will use all means, engineering companies, concessionaires are lending equipment in a gesture of solidarity so that we can clear the obstruction”, said the governor. According to him, trucks with groceries are traveling to the region carrying basic food baskets. “We need to move men from the Fire Department for rescue and immediate assistance, bring people and take holidays to hospitals, that’s why the transport operation with Army aircraft”, he added. Tarcísio flew over the affected regions and announced humanitarian aid for São Sebastião. The Civil Defense of São Paulo recommends that the population avoid traveling to the North Coast until the situation is normalized.
In Bertioga, also on the north coast, records indicate the occurrence of more than 650 millimeters of rain in the first 15 hours of this Sunday. The amount is the highest rainfall recorded in the municipality in recent years and caused flooding, in addition to damage at several points. The Bertioga Civil Defense decreed a state of emergency, asking the population to stay alert and contact the number 199 in case of any occurrence. In addition, a school was made available to serve 13 people who are displaced. Carnival programming in the municipality has been cancelled. According to the DER, the Mogi-Bertioga highway is still interdicted and with no forecast for release. Part of the asphalt on the road gave way when a pipe broke due to the heavy rains that hit the region. On social networks, internet users also share reports of flooding and chaos scenarios. “Once I saw an intense rain in São Paulo, very strong and that flooded everything, and it gave something close to 150 mm of index. Those more than 600 mm in Bertioga and São Sebastião are crazy, I can’t imagine. What a sad stop,” wrote a profile on Twitter. In the last 24 hours, the highest rainfall accumulations are: Bertioga, 683mm; São Sebastião, 627mm; Guarujá, 395mm; Ilhabela, 337mm; Ubatuba, 335mm; and Caraguatatuba, with 234mm.