At least 25 people are dead and 43 remain missing after torrential rains triggered destructive floods and landslides in southeastern Brazil, where a river burst its banks and a wall of mud swept through neighborhoods overnight, authorities said Tuesday.
The state of Minas Gerais bore the brunt of the disaster, with the municipality of Juiz de Fora reporting 18 deaths and 40 missing, and the nearby city of Ubá confirming seven deaths and three missing. Videos and images shared by the fire brigade showed streets turned into churning rivers, a resident clinging to an electricity pole, and others signaling for help from upper-floor windows as waters rose.
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Hundreds of rescue workers, aided by residents, fanned out across the debris and sludge at first light. Sniffer dogs scoured the rubble for signs of life. In Parque Burnier, one of the hardest-hit suburbs of Juiz de Fora, a “massive landslide” swept away 12 homes, said Major Demetrius Goulart of the fire brigade. “Many people were inside their homes at night when it was raining,” he said. He added that teams pulled a boy alive from beneath a collapsed house on Tuesday after a two-hour effort; the child was taken to a hospital.
Authorities said the Paraibuna River overflowed, multiplying emergencies across riverbank and hillside communities. Firefighters responded to flooding, landslides and structural risks along the river and in neighborhoods newly cut off by the downpour, said Lt. Henrique Barcellos, a spokesman for the Minas Gerais fire department.
Juiz de Fora Mayor Margarida Salomão declared a state of emergency, calling the situation “extreme” after what she said was the city’s wettest February on record. The municipality recorded 584 millimeters (nearly 23 inches) of rain this month, her office said, with at least 20 landslides reported and some districts isolated by mud and debris. An estimated 440 residents have been forced from their homes and are receiving temporary shelter and assistance. State authorities suspended classes in all municipal schools.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the federal government recognized the state of emergency and placed the national civil defense on high alert. “Our focus is to guarantee humanitarian assistance, the restoration of basic services, aid to displaced people, and support for reconstruction,” he wrote on X.
The deluge began Monday and intensified overnight, catching many residents off guard as saturated hillsides gave way and water surged through densely populated areas. Emergency crews urged people to avoid affected zones and obey evacuation orders as the search for survivors continued and the threat of further landslides persisted.
The Minas Gerais flooding adds to a punishing stretch of extreme weather across Brazil. Earlier this year, unprecedented floods in the south killed more than 200 people and affected about 2 million, in one of the nation’s worst natural disasters. In 2022, a cloudburst over Petrópolis, in the mountains above Rio de Janeiro, triggered avalanches of mud and water that left 241 dead. Experts have linked the growing frequency and intensity of such events to climate change, which is supercharging rainfall extremes in some regions while deepening drought in others.
With the rain forecast to ease, officials in Juiz de Fora and Ubá warned that recovery will take time. Many areas remain without reliable power or drinking water, and crews are working to clear roads, restore services and assess high-risk slopes as families wait for news of missing loved ones.
Juiz de Fora, a bustling industrial city of more than half a million people near the border with Rio de Janeiro state, is also known as the site where former President Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed during the 2018 campaign—a reminder that, even beyond politics, it has often been the stage for consequential and volatile moments in Brazil.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
