Search for Brazil flood survivors continues as death toll rises to 64

Residents carry away their belongings at the site where homes collapsed due to heavy rains and flooding in the Parque Burnier neighborhood of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

RIO DE JANEIRO — Landslides and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais that have been state triggered by days of heavy rains have claimed the lives of 64 people, authorities say.

Downpours that started late Monday have wreaked havoc across parts of the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 310 kilometres (192 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro. Throughout the week, rescuers have been assisting victims and recovering bodies.

Minas Gerais’s fire department said five people are missing, while more than 5,500 people have been forced to leave their homes.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit the devastated region on Saturday to meet with local leaders, according to a statement from the presidential palace.

The federal government has authorized the release of around 3.4 million reais (US$660,000) for reconstruction efforts and humanitarian assistance.

Brazil’s meteorology institute, Inmet, has warned of a “great danger” of more bad weather in parts of Minas Gerais as well as other Brazilian states, including Rio and Sao Paulo. Those areas are all at risk of landslides, river overflows and major flooding, forecasters said.

Nearly a quarter of Juiz de Fora’s population -- around 540,000 people -- live in places that have been identified as being at risk of natural hazards related to land and water, according to a 2023 report by Cemaden, a Brazilian government agency that monitors natural disasters.

Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change.

Major flooding in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state in May 2024 led to the deaths of at least 185 people and ravaged nearly everything needed for economic activity, from shops to factories, farms and ranches. Financial losses were above 10 billion reais ($1.9 billion).