Sao Sebastiao - (AFP) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited the affected areas in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast), where floods and landslides caused by heavy rains left 40 people dead.

After flying by helicopter over the affected areas, Lula held a press conference during which he said, "It is important that we work together (...) We have to pray for the victims, and also for the rain to stop so that we can start rebuilding."

The National Institute of Meteorology issued a warning of more heavy rains in the region over the next few days.

In São Sebastião, a city located about 200 km from São Paulo, the country's economic capital, a landslide swept away about fifty homes.

And 39 of the 40 dead were in this coastal city with a population of 90,000.

The authorities warned that the death toll is likely to rise, as 40 more people are still missing.

"So far, about 40 people have not been found," Michele Cesar, chief of the fire department in Sao Paulo, told CNN Brazil.

As for the only victim who fell outside the city of Sao Sebastiao, she was a little girl who died in the coastal city of Ubatuba, to the north.

Footage from Sao Sebastiao, broadcast by local television channels and shared by accounts on social media, showed entire neighborhoods flooded, homes destroyed by landslides, highways cut off by dust, mud torrents, and cars with fallen trees and electricity poles.

The authorities declared a state of emergency in five coastal cities where landslides swept away the main road networks, making access extremely difficult.