Twenty-two people have died and hundreds have been displaced in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state on Tuesday (24 February) after relentless, record-breaking rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods.
Firefighters and emergency crews were locked in a desperate race against time to locate dozens of residents missing beneath the mud.
Security forces, supported by specialised K-9 units, remain mobilised across the state, though authorities have yet to confirm the total number of people lost to the floods.
The industrial city of Juiz de Fora has borne the brunt of the storm. Of the 22 fatalities, 16 occurred in the city, primarily as a result of landslides that buried homes within seconds.
The city’s main river and its tributaries surged past their banks, swallowing entire neighbourhoods in a matter of hours.
February has officially become the rainiest on record in Juiz de Fora, with 584 millimetres of rainfall — nearly double the monthly average. The rain began with sudden intensity on Monday and continued through the night.
As waters rose during the early hours of Tuesday, Juiz de Fora Mayor Margarida Salomão declared a state of public calamity, a measure designed to secure immediate federal funding and resources.
“The situation is extremely serious,” Salomão said in a video recorded amid the emergency response. “We are working tirelessly to save lives and reach those trapped.”
Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema has declared three days of mourning and is scheduled to arrive in Juiz de Fora on Tuesday to oversee a major rescue operation involving local firefighting teams and 150 additional officers deployed from neighbouring municipalities.
Nowhere is the grief more concentrated than in the Parque Burnier neighbourhood. Firefighters estimate that at least 17 people are missing, including five children, after a massive landslide obliterated 12 houses along one street.
Rescue teams managed to pull nine survivors from the wreckage, but search dogs remain the only hope for families waiting for news of their loved ones.
More than 440 displaced residents are currently being sheltered in three public schools, their homes destroyed or deemed too dangerous to re-enter.
The tragedy in Minas Gerais is part of a recurring pattern in Brazil, where summer rains frequently turn deadly in densely populated, mountainous regions.
Hours before the storm hit Juiz de Fora, flooding in São João de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro state, claimed the life of an 85-year-old woman who drowned inside her home. More than 600 residents in the metropolitan area were forced to flee.
In São Paulo state, two people died last week in similar storms, bringing the state’s death toll to 19 since the wet season began in December.
More rain is forecast for late Tuesday, leaving authorities on high alert for further landslides.
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