At least 18 people were killed, including seven children, and nine more were injured after heavy rains have hit the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, causing both flooding and landslides across the region.
Approximately 500 people have also been displaced and five people are still missing, according to a statement from the state Civil Defense.
The authorities deployed a working group of firefighters, military police and civil defense personnel to support the mayors of the affected cities, the governor of São Paulo, João Doria, reported this Sunday.
Images from the Franco da Rocha municipality showed parts of major roads submerged, while others showed rescuers digging through the rubble looking for survivors and valuable belongings after a landslide destroyed homes.
Franco da Rocha was flooded after heavy rain on Sunday.
Some 15 million reais (about $2.8 million) will be allocated to the 10 most affected municipalities, according to a statement from Doria’s office.
“(The funds) can be used to repair chronic urban problems in the municipalities that generate inconveniences such as flood points and landslides,” the statement read.
The southern part of Brazil has experienced an increase in average rainfall, as well as extreme rainfall events, since the 1960s, in part due to increases in global greenhouse gas emissions and depletion of the ozone in the atmosphere, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events and flooding are expected to increase in this area as the Earth warms.
The northeast of Brazil has also faced difficulties against heavy rains since December.