Heavy rains that began Monday night have left dozens dead and caused widespread destruction in southeastern Brazil, exposing a longstanding structural problem of housing in high-risk areas vulnerable to seasonal downpours.
Storms in the state of Minas Gerais caused rivers to overflow, destroying bridges and roads, flooding various areas, and displacing nearly 2,600 people. At least 54 have died and 14 remain missing in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Ubá, according to the latest bulletin from the state’s Fire Department. As of Thursday morning, 238 people had been rescued.
In both cities, residents and business owners are trying to recover possessions and goods from the mud, while many families continue searching for relatives. In Ubá, businesses in the city’s central district were completely destroyed and cars were swept away by the floods.
Read more: São Paulo Battles Drought and Floods Together in Climate Paradox
Juiz de Fora, the hardest-hit city with 48 confirmed dead and 12 missing, saw entire houses in hillside areas collapse downhill between Monday night and early Tuesday. In one home, three members of the same family were killed, and two children remain missing, according to a local radio station.
Authorities have issued new alerts for more rain in the region. On Wednesday night, a new storm further drenched Juiz de Fora, hampering search efforts for the missing. The city’s mayor told Brazilian online news outlet UOL that her city had been devastated, adding that she has no way to rebuild it.
In Brazil, many cities feature low-income neighborhoods built up in a haphazard fashion in hillside areas, where informal housing has expanded over the years, increasing exposure to landslides and mudslides during the rainy season. The vulnerability is structural, reflecting a longstanding shortage of housing that leaves thousands exposed to seasonal downpours and at risk in cities across the country. Authorities routinely urge residents in these areas to evacuate at the first sign of danger and seek temporary shelter.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government declared a state of public calamity and released 3.4 million reais ($660,000) in emergency funds for the affected cities. In a post on X, Lula said the “focus is to ensure humanitarian assistance, the restoration of basic services, support for displaced residents and backing for reconstruction.” He also expressed solidarity with those affected by the loss of their homes and family members.
Floods in the Region
The current disaster adds to a series of deadly floods in Brazil in recent years, as extreme weather events become more frequent across South America.
In May 2024, unprecedented heavy rains triggered catastrophic flooding across Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, overwhelming river basins and inundating entire neighborhoods. The deluge affected nearly all of the state’s municipalities, displacing hundreds of thousands of residents and leaving 185 people dead and 23 missing.
The disaster, described by some analysts as a “Katrina moment” for Brazil due to its magnitude and socioeconomic consequences, has also fueled debates over infrastructure investment and climate resilience, as authorities and advocacy groups call for more sustained disaster-preparedness measures, while Lula proposed exempting emergency relief spending from the country’s fiscal rules to speed reconstruction efforts.
Elsewhere in the region, Brazil’s neighbor Peru has recently gone on alert as heavy rainfall battering the country’s coast in recent weeks shows no sign of easing, potentially signaling the onset of the El Niño weather phenomenon. More than 700 districts nationwide have been placed under an emergency status due to downpours typically associated with El Niño, which officials say is in its early stages and expected to intensify next month, possibly lasting through November.
Torrential rains have battered the Arequipa region, damaging about 1,200 homes and affecting more than 4,000 residents, according to official data from Wednesday. Authorities say 68 people have died since the rainy season began in December. El Niño could cause losses of as much as 291 million soles ($86.7 million) per day, particularly impacting manufacturing, agriculture, commerce and transport, the Lima Chamber of Commerce estimated.
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