Deadly floods in Minas Gerais leave dozens missing as rescue teams race against rain

Days of torrential rain have turned parts of Brazil’s Minas Gerais state into fields of mud and collapsed homes, killing at least 23 people and leaving rescue crews searching for dozens more as the weather threatens to worsen.

The hardest-hit area is the municipality of Juiz de Fora, where at least 18 deaths were confirmed and more than 40 people were still missing on Tuesday. Emergency workers, some accompanied by disaster-trained search dogs, moved through piles of debris in neighbourhoods where a swollen river burst its banks and carved new paths through residential streets.

The scale of the destruction reflects how quickly the disaster unfolded. According to local authorities, at least 20 landslides struck the city, toppling or crushing houses during the night while residents were inside. At least 440 people have been displaced in Juiz de Fora, which lies about 310 kilometres north of Rio de Janeiro. In the nearby town of Ubá, seven additional deaths were reported, widening the disaster’s footprint across the region.

The response has been scaled up quickly. More than 100 firefighters have been deployed to Juiz de Fora, with additional teams sent to Ubá, as authorities try to locate survivors before further rain complicates access to unstable terrain and flooded streets.

For local officials, the floods are part of an extreme weather pattern that has been building for weeks. Mayor Margarida Salomão said the province has just recorded its wettest February on record, a statistic that helps explain the saturated ground and the chain of landslides that followed.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the federal government would provide support, outlining priorities that include humanitarian aid, restoring basic services, helping displaced families and funding reconstruction.