(Bloomberg) — Heavy rains that began Monday night left dozens dead and caused widespread destruction in southeastern Brazil, exposing a long-standing structural problem with housing in high-risk areas prone to seasonal downpours.
The storms in the state of Minas Gerais caused rivers to overflow, bridges and roads to be destroyed, various areas to be flooded and nearly 2,600 people displaced. At least 54 have died and 14 are still missing in the towns of Juiz de Fora and Ubá, according to the latest bulletin from the state fire department. By Thursday morning, 238 people had been rescued.
In both cities, residents and business owners are scrambling to recover property and goods from the mud, while many families continue to search for relatives. In Ubá, businesses in the central part of the city were completely destroyed and cars were swept away by floods.
Juiz de Fora, the worst-hit town with 48 confirmed dead and 12 missing, saw entire hillside houses collapse overnight Monday. In one house, three members of the same family were killed and two children remain missing, according to a local radio station.
Authorities have issued new warnings for more rain in the region. On Wednesday night, a new storm further flooded 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 had no way to rebuild it.
In Brazil, many cities are characterized by low-income neighborhoods built haphazardly on hillsides where informal housing has expanded over the years, increasing exposure to landslides and mudslides during the rainy season. This vulnerability is structural and reflects a long-term housing shortage that leaves thousands exposed to seasonal downpours and at risk in cities across the country. Authorities routinely urge residents in these areas to evacuate and seek temporary shelter at the first sign of danger.
The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 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 that “the intention is to ensure humanitarian aid, restoration of basic services, support for displaced residents and support for reconstruction”. He also expressed solidarity with those affected by the loss of their homes and family members.
The current disaster adds to a series of deadly floods in Brazil in recent years as extreme weather events become more common in South America.
In May 2024, unprecedented heavy rains caused catastrophic flooding in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, inundating river basins and inundating entire neighborhoods. The flood affected almost all municipalities in the state, displacing hundreds of thousands of residents and leaving 185 dead and 23 missing.
The disaster, described by some analysts as a “Katrina moment” for Brazil due to its scale and socioeconomic consequences, has also fueled debates about infrastructure investment and climate resilience, as authorities and interest groups call for more permanent disaster preparedness measures, while Lula has proposed exempting emergency spending from the country’s fiscal rules to speed up reconstruction efforts.
Elsewhere in the region, Brazil’s neighbor Peru recently went on alert as heavy rainfall that has battered the country’s coast in recent weeks shows no sign of abating, which could signal the onset of El Niño. More than 700 counties across the country have been placed under a state of emergency due to downpours typically associated with El Niño, which officials say is in its early stages and is expected to intensify next month, possibly lasting until November.
Torrential rains hit the Arequipa region, damaging about 1,200 houses and affecting more than 4,000 residents, according to official figures on Wednesday. Authorities said 68 people had died since the rainy season began in December. El Niño could cause losses of up to 291 million soles ($86.7 million) per day, mainly affecting manufacturing, agriculture, trade and transportation, the Lima Chamber of Commerce estimated.
–With help from Carl Samon Ros.
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