PETRÓPOLIS  -  A powerful storm has claimed at least a dozen lives in southeastern Brazil, mostly in the mountainous parts of Rio de Janeiro state, where authorities on Saturday deployed rescue teams to deal with a “critical” situation.

The deluge came as Brazil, South America’s largest country, suffers through a recent string of extreme weather events, which experts say are more likely to occur due to climate change. At least eight people have been killed in the state of Rio de Janei­ro, officials said, while the neighboring state of Espirito Santo has confirmed at least four dead and seven missing.

Such environmental tragedies “are intensifying with climate change,” President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding that thousands had been left homeless by the storm. He expressed sympathy for the victims, and said his govern­ment was working with state and local authorities to “protect, prevent and re­pair flood damage.” Four of the deaths in Rio state occurred when the storm caused a house to collapse in the city of Petropolis, 70 kilometers (45 miles) inland from the capital. An AFP team witnessed the rescue of a girl Saturday morning who had been buried more than 16 hours in the rubble.