17 Municipalities in Emergency Due to Heavy Rains in Brazil

On Thursday, two people were killed and a firefighter is missing after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in Santa Catarina state in southern Brazil.

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"My solidarity and condolences to the families that are suffering from the heavy rains in Parana, Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, and Bahia," Brazilian President-elect Lula da Silva tweeted on Friday.

In Santa Catarina, one man died in a landslide that destroyed his home in the city of Brusque, and another was fatally electrocuted while crossing a flooded street in Palhoca, a town next to the state capital Florianopolis.

Meanwhile, a firefighter went missing when his boat sank off the coast of the seaside resort of Navegantes in Santa Catarina. Over 600 people were evacuated from their homes in this Brazilian state, which borders Argentina.

The tweet reads, "Heavy rains leave destruction in Santa Catarina. This is a rescue in Sao Joao Batista."

The Civil Defense Coordinated Action Group (GRAC-DCSC) reported that the following municipalities of Santa Catarina have declared a state of emergency: Araquari, Joinville, Sao Bento do Sul, Luiz Alves, Corupa, Guaramirim, Rio dos Cedros, Campo Alegre, Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, Benedito Novo, Palhoca, Rancho Queimado, Sao Jose, Aguas Mornas, Antonio Carlos, Armazem, Anitapolis, Timbo, Schroeder, and Brusque.

Previously on Tuesday, rescuers were searching for people believed to be buried under tons of mud in the state of Parana after a landslide on Monday hit a highway in the city of Guaratuba.

According to information issued on Wednesday by the Parana authorities, two people died, some 30 were reported missing, and six were rescued after the landslide dragged 16 vehicles off a cliff in a difficult-to-access mountain region.