22 dead, scores missing as record rains ravage southeastern Brazil

BOGOTA, Colombia

Twenty-two people are dead Tuesday and hundreds displaced in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais 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 specialized K-9 units, remain mobilized across the state, though authorities have yet to confirm the 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 the result of landslides that buried homes in seconds.

The city’s main river and its tributaries surged past their banks, swallowing entire neighborhoods in a matter of hours.

February has officially become the rainiest in Juiz de Fora’s recorded history, with 584 millimeters (just shy of 2 feet) of rainfall, double the monthly average. The rain began with a sudden intensity Monday and continued through the night.

As waters rose during the early hours Tuesday, Juiz de Fora Mayor Margarida Salomao declared a state of public calamity. The measure is designed to secure immediate federal funding and resources.

“The situation is extremely serious,” Salomao 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. He is scheduled to arrive Tuesday in Juiz de Fora to oversee a massive rescue operation involving local firefighting teams and 150 additional officers deployed from neighboring municipalities.

Nowhere is the grief more concentrated than in the Parque Burnier neighborhood. Firefighters estimate that at least 17 people are missing, including five children, after a massive landslide obliterated 12 houses on one street. Rescue teams managed to pull nine survivors from the wreckage, but search dogs remain the only hope for the families waiting for news about loved ones.

Currently, more than 440 displaced residents are 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 lethal in densely populated, mountainous regions.

Hours before the storm hit Juiz de Fora, flooding in Sao Joao de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro 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 Sao Paulo, 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 additional landslides.