Heavy rains and landslides have killed at least 64 people and left 15 missing in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state since Monday, February 23, with Juiz de Fora being the most affected municipality.

The Minas Gerais Fire Department confirmed on this Friday, February 27, that devastating rains, which began on Monday, February 23, have caused widespread landslides and flooding, resulting in at least 64 fatalities.

Fifty-eight of these deaths occurred in Juiz de Fora, including seven children and 12 elderly individuals, while the remaining six were reported in Ubá.

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Rescue Efforts Intensify

The emergency situation persists, and official reports indicate that at least 15 people remain missing after five days of intense rainfall that severely impacted in the region.

Firefighter teams are actively deployed across three operational fronts in the area, concentrating their efforts in the Paineiras, JK (Parque Burnier Community), and Linhares neighborhoods. To date, the extensive deployment of rescue teams has successfully brought 239 individuals to safety.

According to the City’s Mayor’s Office, over 5,500 people have been rendered homeless and displaced by the disaster, highlighting its significant scale.

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Aid Reaches Victims

The Federal Government has announced immediate measures to mitigate the social impact. The Ministry of Development and Social Assistance has allocated 1.43 million reales (approximately 278,300 U.S. dollars) to establish shelters and provide essential supplies to those affected, for addressing the immediate needs of the displaced population.

Furthermore, the Government has dispatched more than eight thousand eight hundred food baskets and 22 tons of vital supplies to support 12 community kitchens operating in the affected zones. These kitchens play a crucial role in providing hot meals and nourishment to thousands of vulnerable individuals. In terms of personnel, 125 firefighters have been deployed across eight search fronts, backed by heavy machinery and a team of technical experts, ensuring a comprehensive and robust response effort.

Waldez Góes, the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, affirmed that the primary focus of the Civil Defense teams is on the rescue of victims and providing aid to the homeless and displaced individuals.

“The disaster response now is to assist the people, search for the missing, carry out rescues, attend to the homeless and displaced, work to restore public services, and from there, reconstruct after the damages caused”, he emphasized, detailing the Government’s efforts to restore essential services, improve mobility within the affected cities, undertake cleaning operations, and initiate the long-term process of reconstruction.

This natural disaster tragically revives the trauma experienced in Rio Grande do Sul in 2024, unequivocally demonstrating that extreme climatic events are a recurring reality in the South American giant.

From the perspective of social movements, these floods serve as an urgent reminder that global warming, exacerbated by a predatory development model, disproportionately impacts the most disadvantaged populations of the Global South. This situation underscores the critical need for sustainable development and robust climate adaptation strategies to protect vulnerable communities from intensifying environmental threats.

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