The São Paulo State is home 45 million people ranging from very vulnerable communities to
well structure urban and rural areas. From the beginning of the pandemic, it is the epicentre of
the COVID-19 in Brazil, with around 1.5 million cases and 47,768 deaths until this day. By
December 2020, the summer storms season started, bringing great damage to the poorest areas
of São Paulo. From 2016 to 2020, more than 75 people died from floods, 35 only in 2020.
In the São Paulo Municipality, the most affected districts are in the East, the Northwest and
the South. The Jacuí and Jardim Santa Helena neighbourhoods are in an area that follows the
river course of the Rio Tietê. The Grajaú district has many poor communities living in the
shore of the city’s larger reservoir in informal settlements.
Outside of the metropolitan area, in the coastal area known as Baixada Santista, there are
urgent situations in the municipality of Cubatão, by the Pilões River. In this year, an area
greatly damaged by the floods is the Vale do Ribeira the poorest region in the state, home of
large quilombola1 and indigenous communities, and many conservation units (protection
