Brazilian authorities said Thursday evening that the death toll from floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains in the country’s southeast had risen to at least 50, with emergency workers continuing to dig through the wreckage.

Emergency official Villas Boas said that the more time passes, the less likely it is to find survivors but they always work with that in mind knowing that there can always be air pockets under the rubble.

According to the Sao Paulo state government, dozens of people are still missing after the disaster.

Last weekend’s record storms dumped more than an entire February’s worth of rain in 24 hours on the picturesque beach resort town of Sao Sebastiao and the surrounding region, triggering violent floods and landslides that tore through precariously built hillside communities.

Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas admitted the official weather alert system had failed to avoid the tragedy explaining that they sent 2.6 million alerts by text message, but as they saw, it wasn’t effective and that the next rainy season, there will be sirens to warn people in high-risk areas.