Rescuers in southeastern Brazil hold little hope for 21 missing after deadly rains triggered floods and landslides, killing at least 46 people
JUÍZ DE FORA: Despair hangs over two cities in southeastern Brazil as the search continues for 21 people missing after torrential rains.
The violent downpour on Monday in Minas Gerais state unleashed flooding and landslides that have killed at least 46 people.
The worst-hit city is Juiz de Fora, where 40 people died, while nearby Ubá saw six deaths according to the latest official tally.
More heavy rain is forecast for Juiz de Fora this week, with firefighters stating it is unlikely any more victims will be found alive.
“Our family is desperate,” said Josiane Aparecida, a 43-year-old cook in Juiz de Fora.
Her aunt died in a landslide and her cousin was found alive but later died at a hospital.
Aparecida is still searching for her cousin’s two children, aged six and nine, and their boyfriend.
“We have hope, and yet we don’t, because it’s so difficult (to find them), and we’ve already lost two,” she said.
Rescuers nearby recovered the body of a man who managed to pull his wife from their house before it was engulfed by a landslide.
In the city of Ubá, residents were covered in mud as they cleared sludge from a river that had burst its banks.
Felippe Souza Lima, owner of a hardware store surrounded by muddy water, told AFP the gravity sank in when he saw people paddling a canoe down the street.
“Our door was blown open, so it was chaos. We lost a lot of things, the water must have reached a meter and a half. But what matters is that everyone is OK, everyone is alive.”
He said the flooding of the Ubá River was unprecedented in his lifetime.
Elsewhere in the city, brand-new vehicles at a car dealership were stuck in mud as the owner looked on in despair.
Mauro Pinto de Moraes Filho told AFP he suffered up to five million reais in losses from water that reached two meters high.
“Everything is ruined. I am going to close the branch temporarily. After this disaster, it’s crazy to spend a huge amount of money to rebuild.”
The mayor of Juiz de Fora, Margarida Salomao, said the municipality experienced its wettest February on record.
The tragedy is the latest in a series of extreme weather disasters in Brazil, which scientists have linked to the effects of global warming.
In 2024, more than 200 people died in unprecedented flooding in southern Brazil.
Two years earlier, a deluge in Petropolis outside Rio de Janeiro left 241 people dead.