Torrential rain in southeast Brazil over the past few weeks has left at least 44 people dead and more than 60,000 have been left homeless, officials said Thursday.
In Espirito Santo state, Civil Defence officials reported a total of 27 fatalities, including eight Thursday, in what they described as the worst rains in 90 years.
They said 61,379 people were forced to leave their homes.
“We are going to have to rebuild the state,” said Governor Renato Casagrande amid extensive flooding and damage to bridges and roads.
In neighboring Minas Gerais state, where the downpours began in October and have worsened in the past few days, authorities reported 17 deaths and said 4,150 people were forced to evacuate their homes.
A 56-year-old woman died on Wednesday in a landslide that buried her house in Juiz de Fora, 278 kilometers (173 miles) from Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais.
