At least eight people have died after torrential rains in Brazil, authorities said on Saturday, as storms battered parts of the country following a drought that fueled a wave of wildfires.
In the center and southeast of Brazil since Friday, winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour and 10 centimeters of rain have been blowing every day, according to the National Institute of Meteorology.
Seven people died in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state, mainly due to falling trees and walls brought down by strong winds and rain, according to the civil protection agency.
The shutdown has hit large parts of the city of Sao Paulo, and energy company Enel said about 1.6 million homes and businesses were without electricity.
In the capital Brasilia, one soldier was killed and another was injured after a tree fell while removing a flag in front of the police headquarters, the local commander said.
The media reported that officials inside the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Congress of Brazil, had to put umbrellas inside the house as rainwater leaked from the roof.
Still, many welcomed the rain as a relief in Brasilia after a record 165 days without rain.
Brazil in recent months has experienced the worst drought since records began which, according to experts, is related to climate change.
The dry weather fueled fires across the country, tearing through the Amazon rainforest, leaving jaguars with burn injuries in the Pantanal wetlands, and choking major cities with smoke.
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