At least eight people have died and thousands have been left without power after powerful storms hit Brazil on Friday.
Central and southeastern parts of the country were hit by winds of up to 100km/h (60mph) and daily rainfall of up to 10cm (4in), according to the National Institute of Meteorology.
Seven people are known to have died in São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state, mainly due to falling trees and infrastructure caused by strong winds and heavy rain.
Residents in the southeast region described the unexpected rain as short but really heavy.
Power outages have hit large parts of São Paulo state since Friday, with water supply problems reported.
Energy company Enel said that more than 1.3 million homes and businesses still have electricity. The company said it intends to reconnect power on Monday.
This happened after residents of the Parque São Roberto neighborhood, in the state of São Paulo, staged a pot-banging protest on Saturday after being without electricity for more than 24 hours.
In the capital, Brasilia, one soldier was killed and another wounded at the military police headquarters.
The rain was so heavy that local media reported that officials inside the Chamber of Deputies – the lower house of Brazil’s Congress – were forced to use umbrellas inside as water leaked from the roof.
However, many people in Brasilia welcomed the storm as a long-awaited relief following a record 165 days without rain.
In recent months, Brazil has faced the worst drought since records began, which experts have linked to climate change and the El Niño climate.
Dry weather has fueled wildfires across the country that are ravaging large swaths of the Amazon rainforest and Pantanal wetlands and choking major cities with smoke.
The number of wildfires in the Amazon rose to a twelve-year high in July, according to government data.
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