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February 20, 2023

Extreme Weather Kills 36 in Brazil; Death Toll from New Zealand Cyclone Rises to 11
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In southeastern Brazil, at least three dozen people were killed over the
weekend as heavy rains triggered landslides and flash flooding in
coastal São Paulo state. Some areas received more than two feet of rain
in just 24 hours, in what meteorologists called an unprecedented extreme
weather event.

In New Zealand, at least 11 people are dead and thousands remain
unaccounted for, one week after Cyclone Gabrielle left a trail of
devastation along New Zealand's North Island. Prime Minister Chris
Hipkins blamed climate change for the scale of the damage, calling it
New Zealand's worst natural disaster of the century.

Meanwhile, Madagascar is bracing for Cyclone Freddy, one month after a
devastating tropical storm killed 30 people. Freddy is an extremely rare
and long-lived cyclone - just the third ever recorded crossing the
Indian Ocean.


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