At least 24 people died in mudslides and more than 12,000 were left homeless this week following heavy rain in southeast Brazil, with the death toll likely to rise as the hunt for bodies goes on, the Civil Defense said.
Most of the deaths occurred in Rio de Janeiro state when shacks built illegally on steep slopes surrounding mountainous towns were swept away.
"The number of victims could rise further. The Civil Defense is still on alert and we're still searching for missing people," said Cpl. Leonardo Franco at Civil Defense.
Marcos Sanches from the National Space Research Climate Studies Center said that in the first five days of January the Mantiqueira mountains near Rio de Janeiro received half the usual average monthly rainfall, and further rains were likely this weekend.
Wet weather, if prolonged, could discourage visitors to the annual Carnival in Rio de Janeiro in February but tourist bookings there have not been affected yet by the rains.
Mudslides killed 16 Brazilians in Petropolis, an historic mountain resort near Rio, in January 2003. In December 2001, 52 people died in mudslides in Rio de Janeiro state.
Since October, the heavy rains have killed at least 17 people in neighboring Minas Gerais, one of Brazil's biggest mining and agricultural states. At least two people have died in Sao Paulo, Brazil's main industrial state which lies just southwest of Rio de Janeiro.