Death toll in Brazilian floods rises to 46 as rescuers continue search
#Brazil floods #Minas Gerais #death toll #landslides #climate change #emergency response #displaced residents #extreme weather
📌 Key Takeaways
- Death toll in Brazilian floods rises to 46 with 21 people still missing
- Approximately 3,600 residents have been displaced from affected areas
- Torrential rains caused widespread flooding and landslides in Minas Gerais
- Climate change is linked to increasing severity of extreme weather events
- Peru also declared a state of emergency due to heavy rain and flooding
📖 Full Retelling
Authorities in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais updated the death toll from devastating floods to 46 people on Wednesday, February 26, 2026, as emergency workers continued searching for 21 missing residents amid torrential rains that swept away homes and triggered landslides. The hardest-hit town was Juiz de Fora, where 40 deaths occurred, while six more fatalities were reported in nearby Uba, with approximately 3,600 residents displaced from their homes. Emergency services have been working tirelessly through treacherous conditions, though firefighters have expressed little hope of finding the missing alive after days of searching. The disaster unfolded as heavy downpours caused waterways to overflow and hillsides to collapse, trapping residents in their homes and sweeping away entire neighborhoods in a torrent of mud and debris. 'We never had support from the public authorities to help us with anything,' Flavio Clemente Rodrigues, a Juiz de Fora resident, told The Associated Press, highlighting the vulnerability of communities in the region. Mayor Margarida Salomao reported at least 20 landslides in the area since the rains began on Monday, with meteorological authorities warning that more precipitation is expected in the coming days. Scientists have linked the increasing severity and frequency of such extreme weather events to climate change, which disproportionately affects poorer communities and those living in improvised structures.
🏷️ Themes
Natural Disasters, Climate Change, Human Impact, Emergency Response
📚 Related People & Topics
Minas Gerais
State in Brazil
Minas Gerais (English: , MIN-əs zhə-RYS; Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈminɐz ʒeˈɾajs] ; lit. 'General Mines') is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 census. L...
Entity Intersection Graph
Connections for Minas Gerais:
View full profileOriginal Source
News | Floods Death toll in Brazilian floods rises to 46 as rescuers continue search Emergency workers continue to search for missing residents of towns reeling from recent floods. Listen to this article | 3 mins By Al Jazeera Staff , AFP and The Associated Press Published On 26 Feb 2026 26 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media Share Save Add Al Jazeera on Google Authorities in the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil have updated the death toll from recent floods to 46 people, after homes and towns were left covered in mud and debris. The state fire department published the revised figure on Wednesday, adding that about 21 people remain missing. Forty of the deaths took place in the town of Juiz de Fora, while the other six were from nearby Uba. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of 3 Photos: Rescuers search for missing after deluge kills 30 in Brazil list 2 of 3 Heavy rains flood Gaza tents as Israel kills two more Palestinians list 3 of 3 At least 23 dead as heavy rains unleash floods in southeastern Brazil end of list About 3,600 residents have been displaced from the area, where emergency workers continue search operations. “Our family is desperate,” Josiane Aparecida, a 43-year-old cook in Juiz de Fora, told the news service AFP. She added that her aunt and cousin both died as a result of a landslide and that her cousin’s boyfriend and two children, ages six and nine, remain missing. “We have hope, and yet we don’t, because it’s so difficult [to find them], and we’ve already lost two,” said Aparecida. Torrential rains in southern Brazil have caused waterways to spill their banks and soil to become loosened on hillsides, sweeping away homes and engulfing dozens of people. An 11-year-old boy named Bernardo Lopes Dutra was among those killed. “It’s a tragedy that no one was expecting,” his father, Ricardo Dutra, said at the funeral, describing Bernardo as “a boy with a big heart who, in his own way, touched everyone around him”. Firefighter...
Read full article at source