This photo shows the SP-55 highway blocked by a landslide in the municipality of Ubatuba, Brazil, on Sunday. AFP

Flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rain in Brazil claimed at least 36 lives on Carnival weekend in southeast Sao Paulo state, authorities said on Sunday.

The cities of Sao Sebastiao, Ubatuba, Ilhabela and Bertioga, some of the hardest hit and now under state of calamity, cancelled their Carnival festivities as rescue teams struggle to find missing, injured and feared dead in the rubble.

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"We have not yet gauged the scale of the damage. We are trying to rescue the victims," said Sao Sebastiao Mayor Felipe Augusto, calling the situation in the town "extremely critical."

"We are working at nearly 50 residences that collapsed under the force of the water and there are still people buried," he told Globonews.

This photo shows military police helping flood victims in the municipality of sao Sebastiao, Brazil, on Sunday. AFP

TV and social media footage from the town of Sao Sebastiao showed entire neighbourhoods under water, debris from hillside houses swept away by oozing earth, flooded highways and cars destroyed by fallen trees, among other damage.

"Unfortunately, we are going to have many more deaths," the state civil defense chief, Henguel Pereira, told the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

Another 228 people were left homeless and 338 were evacuated in the coastal region north of the city of Sao Paulo, the state government said earlier, as rescue crews raced to help those hit by the storm.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Twitter he will visit the region Monday.

Heavy rains cause floods in the municipality of Sao Sebastiao, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sunday. AFP

Sao Paulo state government said in a statement that precipitation in the region has surpassed 600 millimeters (23.6 inches) in one day, one of the highest amounts ever in Brazil in such a short period.

Bertioga alone had 687 millimeters during that period, the state government said.

The authorities did not give a figure for how many people were missing or injured.

Sao Paulo state governor Tarcisio de Freitas declared a state of emergency in five towns along the coast after flying over areas devastated by the weather. He freed up the equivalent of $1.5 million for rescue operations.

That is more than twice the amount that normally falls in a month.

This photo shows the damage caused by heavy rains in the municipality of Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, on Sunday. AFP

More than 100 firefighters were working at the scene, with the aid of helicopters.

Soldiers were also taking part in the race to help people affected by the downpour.

Lula said government at all levels would work to "take care of the injured, look for missing people and restore roads, energy and telecommunications."

Amid the loss and destruction, authorities said a boy aged two was rescued from a sea of mud, as was a woman who was giving birth.

Extreme weather events fueled by climate change are taking a heavy toll on Brazil.

Torrential rains last year in the city of Petropolis lead to the death of more than 230 people.