The violent storm that has shaken since Thursday the state of Minas Gerais, in the south-east of Brazil, has caused major floods and landslides having left at least thirty dead and seventeen missing.
Civil Defense said on Saturday (January 25th) that these exceptional weather conditions had also left seven people injured and more than 3,000 displaced. Thirty cities are affected, while the National Institute of Meteorology reported having recorded in 24 hours the heaviest precipitation ever recorded since the start of measurements 110 years ago.
The deceased perished in landslides or in the destruction of homes caused by unprecedented floods and precipitation.
Between 9:00 a.m. Thursday and 9:00 a.m. Friday, 171.8 millimeters of rain fell in Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais. A record.
Authorities anticipate a drop in the intensity of rain on Sunday while warning that the risk of landslide will persist in nine cities in the Belo Horizonte region.
Images from local TVs showed landslides, buried houses, uprooted trees and utility poles, flooding rivers and neighborhoods flooded by the storm, which also affected the neighboring states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo.
Failing dike
Heavy showers over the state of Rio led to the flooding of three rivers which flooded seven cities in the north and northwest. No deaths or injuries have been reported at this stage.
Several roads were cut by the rising waters and dozens of bridges collapsed. According to the G1 news site, a dyke gave way to Monjolos, a rural area in Minas Gerais, causing an overflow of a stream which affected several houses without causing any casualties.
On Friday, two children and two adults lost their lives in the collapse of two homes in Ibirite. Two other people died in the collapse of homes in the Vila Bernardete neighborhood of Belo Horizonte. Four other people died in this city, and one in Contagem.
These bad weather coincided with the first anniversary of the rupture of a mining dam located in Brumadinho in the State of Minas Gerais, which caused a torrent of 13 million m3 of waste mud having washed away everything in its path. This tragedy on January 25, 2019 left 211 dead and 95 missing.
The majority of the victims worked in the Corrego do Feijao mine belonging to the Vale group, the world's leading producer of iron ore.
A week ago, six people died from floods and landslides caused by torrential rain in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo. More than 3,000 people had to be evacuated, according to official sources.
With AFP
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