Of these deaths, 48 bodies were found in the city of Sao Sebastiao and one in Ubatuba.

Firemen, Civil Defense agents and volunteers continue uninterruptedly searching for victims this Thursday, on their fifth day of activity.

Such work is taking place especially in neighborhoods on the southern coast of São Sebastião, Vila Sahy, the area where most of the victims of the tragedy are concentrated, and in Juquehy.

The number of missing people must be even higher than the 25 registered, according to Guilherme Derrite, secretary of Public Security of the Brazilian state.

‘It is not a pessimistic projection, but a realistic one, that there may be a higher number of victims according to firefighters’ reports and the perception of who was at the site,’ Derrite said.

He explained that ‘missing persons are those, reported by the relatives, that did not return home during or after the disaster. The Sao Sebastian command post had records of 36 missing persons.

The storms caused flooding, landslides and cuts in the sections of Rio-Santos, Mogi-Bertyoga and Tamoios highways.

According to the Civil Defense, the volume of rainfall in 24 hours, this weekend, exceeded what was expected for the whole of February in three of the four cities on the northern coast: Sao Sebastião, Ilhabela, Caraguatatuba and Ubatuba.

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