Sixteen people died, 43 are missing in the municipality of Juiz de Fora, and there are seven dead and four missing in Uba, following rainfall which led to the overflowing of a river, floods and landslides, according to an official report from local authorities on Tuesday.
Firefighters in the state of Minas Gerais (southeast) are searching for “dozens” of people, a spokesperson told AFP.
“We have been here since last night to see if they survived underground… Hope is the last thing we lose,” Livia Rosa, a 44-year-old seamstress whose several relatives are buried under the mud, told AFP.
In one of the most affected neighborhoods of Juiz de Fora, the suburb of Parque Burnier, twelve houses were swept away by a major landslide, Commander Demetrius Goulart of the firefighters told AFP. “A lot of people were at home at night when it was raining,” he said.
– “We have hope” –
“We have hope,” he added. “We found a boy this morning. He was inside a house, under the rubble. It took the team two hours of work to get him out alive and he was taken to the hospital.”
The mayor of Juiz de Fora, Margarida Salomao, declared a state of natural disaster at dawn in the face of the “extremely serious situation” caused by the “intense and persistent” rainfall.
This is the wettest month of February in the history of this city, where some 540,000 people live, according to official data. 584 millimeters of water fell, double what was expected for the entire month.
“Neighborhoods are isolated” and the situation is “extreme,” Ms. Salomao said, adding that the rains had caused at least 20 landslides.
“Civil Defense also estimates at 440” the number of affected people who receive “support from the town hall for their reception and temporary accommodation”, added the authorities on X.
Firefighters are battling floods, landslides and structural risks on the banks and in areas near the Paraibuna River, which has burst its banks, said Lieutenant Henrique Barcellos of the Minas Gerais firefighters.
The authorities suspended classes in all municipal schools. Some residents filmed buildings collapsing in seconds.
Images posted on social media show rescuers working with excavators in areas buried underground and homes completely destroyed. Firefighters use specialized equipment to evacuate people who are about to drown.
In the images, we can also see flooded streets and avenues and torrents of water and mud.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced that he had placed the Civil Defense system on alert.
“Our priority is to guarantee humanitarian assistance, the restarting of basic services, aid to displaced people, and support for reconstruction,” he wrote on X.
Brazil has experienced several tragedies in recent years linked to extreme climatic phenomena: floods, drought or severe heat waves.
In 2024, floods hit the south of the country and killed more than 200 people while affecting 2 million residents, one of the worst natural disasters in Brazil’s modern history.
In 2022, a violent storm killed 241 people in the city of Petropolis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Experts have linked most of these deadly events to the effects of climate change.
