"They were always together. And that's how they found them," he said, as workers dug through the mud, tree trunks and rocks that buried the home where his parents, Neuzinha and Mauro, had resided for 30 years.
The couple lived in the hillside community of Vila Sahy, the neighborhood hit hardest by torrential rains last weekend that triggered violent floods and landslides in the picturesque coastal town of Sao Sebastiao and the surrounding area.
At least 48 people were killed in the storm, according to officials. Thirty-eight more are still missing and feared dead.
Vila Sahy, a poor neighborhood of about 3,000 people, was partly wiped out by the landslides.
Teams of emergency workers, soldiers, police and volunteers have been digging through the muck and wreckage to look for the missing, using bulldozers, chainsaws, shovels and even radiofrequency detectors to pick up cell phone signals.
- Hope fading -
Near each mountain of rubble, family and friends waited, hoping for a miracle -- like that of a baby found alive beneath the wreckage of two houses that were washed down the hillside.
Taiara Lopes, a 26-year-old domestic worker, considered her escape a "miracle," too, after the crush of mud buried her up to her shoulders in her kitchen.
"I managed to grab hold of a tree trunk. I was going under, but my husband managed to pull me out, and we climbed up onto the roof," she told AFP, showing her badly bruised legs.
But hope for more miraculous survival stories is fading.
- 'More and more bodies' -
Elenilson Batista Gomes, 47, had barely slept since arriving Sunday to look for his son Caio and daughter-in-law Michelle, who married four months ago.
"I'm not leaving until I find them. I'm going to give my son and his wife a decent burial," he said.
Sniffer dogs were looking for bodies atop a bare spot where residents said about 10 houses used to stand.
They found a man's body against a wall, and two others beneath an uprooted tree.
Natalia Cerqueira said she was starting to feel "useless" after three days helping with the search.
"We keep digging through the mud, but there's always more. We find bodies, and then there are still more," said the 25-year-old school cafeteria cook.
Maria Vidal, 50, considered herself among the lucky ones.
The torrent passed in front of her house, but spared her and her four-year-old grandson.
Still, she feels haunted, she said.
"Images of dead children keep running through my mind," she said, adjusting her curly hair to hide her tears from her grandson, who was playing nearby with a Superman toy, making it fly through the air.
Lucas da Rocha, whose home was also spared, said he had suffered an even bigger loss: his friends.
"I'm just waiting for the roads to be cleared so I can go live with family. There could be another landslide anytime," said the 31-year-old father of two.
Then storm clouds moved in again, forcing emergency crews to suspend the search temporarily.
"No one can live with fear like this," said Da Rocha.
Brazil storm death toll rises to 48
Sao Paulo (AFP) Feb 22, 2023 -
At least 48 people were killed in floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains in southeastern Brazil, authorities said Wednesday, updating the death toll as the search for dozens of missing entered the fourth day.
"We currently have a toll of 48 victims. The number of missing stands at 38, which may change," said Sao Paulo state Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, updating the previous death toll of 46.
There is little hope of finding more survivors from last weekend's deadly rains, which turned the popular resort town of Sao Sebastiao and the surrounding area into a disaster zone just as Brazilians celebrated the carnival holiday.
The storms dumped a record 680 millimeters (27 inches) of rain on the coastal town in 24 hours, more than double the average amount for the entire month of February.
Survivors have told harrowing stories of narrowly escaping as their homes were washed away, and families digging frantically through the muck and wreckage to reach trapped relatives.
Around 2,500 people were forced to leave their homes, authorities said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva toured the disaster zone Monday, promising the federal government's assistance and urging residents not to rebuild in high-risk areas.
An estimated 9.5 million of Brazil's 215 million people live in areas at high risk of flooding or landslides -- often impoverished favelas.
The figure is all the more troubling as Brazil faces a surge of weather-related disasters that experts say are likely being made worse by climate change.
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