After a night and day of torrential rain, the sky cleared over Recife on a Sunday morning, and the region of northeastern Brazil began counting its losses: at least 44 dead and 56 still unaccounted for. The disaster unfolds where steep hillsides meet crowded, poorly built homes, and where the sea's distant weather patterns arrive as a familiar but unforgiving season. It joins a sorrowful run of floods across Brazil, a reminder that the rains which sustain the land can also undo the people who live closest to its slopes.
Brazil Floods Kill 44, Leave 56 Missing as Rescuers Race Against Renewed Rains in Pernambuco
At least 44 people were killed and 56 reported missing, with thousands left without shelter, after landslides and floods in Pernambuco state.
Seventy per cent of May's forecast rain fell in a single night
Mark
Why does the Jardim Monteverde landslide stand out in these numbers?
Mimi
It killed 19 people on Saturday morning alone, in homes described as precariously built. It shows how terrain and construction decide who is exposed.
Luke
Careful, though. The source says precarious construction, but it doesn't give details about that neighborhood's permits or history. We know the deaths, not the cause of each collapse.
Mark
And the 56 missing?
Mimi
That's the number that could change most. Searchers resumed with about 1,200 personnel once the rain eased.
Luke
Right, and it's a government figure from Sunday. Missing lists often shift as people turn up or are added. The source doesn't say how it was compiled.
Mark
The toll rose from 34 to 44 in a day. What does that tell us?
Mimi
That the count was still moving while the weather was still dangerous. Ferreira himself warned more heavy rain is forecast.
Mark
How much is climate change here?
Mimi
Experts cite La Nina and climate change as amplifiers, and meteorologist Estael Sias calls the immediate cause a typical seasonal pattern, eastern waves.
Luke
Those two framings sit side by side. The source doesn't say how much of this particular storm is due to warming, so I wouldn't claim a number.
Il Polso
- Death toll climbed from 34 to 44 in a single day, and 56 people remain missing as hope thins by the hour.
- Landslides tore through Jardim Monteverde, where 19 people died in homes built on steep, unstable ground.
- Some parts of Recife received 70 percent of the rain forecast for all of May in a single night.
- Rescuers, about 1,200 strong, returned to the mud the moment the rain eased, racing against forecasts of more storms.
- Nearly 4,000 people are without shelter, and officials warn that the pause in rain is not the end of the danger.
After a night and day of torrential rain, the sky cleared over Recife on a Sunday morning, and the region of northeastern Brazil began counting its losses: at least 44 dead and 56 still unaccounted for. The disaster unfolds where steep hillsides meet crowded, poorly built homes, and where the sea's distant weather patterns arrive as a familiar but unforgiving season. It joins a sorrowful run of floods across Brazil, a reminder that the rains which sustain the land can also undo the people who live closest to its slopes.
On Sunday morning the rain over Recife finally eased, and roughly 1,200 rescue workers returned to the mud. The night before, torrential downpours had swept across Pernambuco state, and by the time the skies cleared, the government was counting the dead. Regional development minister Daniel Ferreira gave the tally at a press conference: 44 dead, 56 missing, 25 injured, and more than 3,900 people without shelter. The toll had risen from 34 the day before, and at least 28 of the dead were killed in landslides as rivers overflowed and mud carried away everything in its path.
One of the hardest-hit places was Jardim Monteverde, on the border between Recife and Jaboatao dos Guararapes, where a Saturday morning landslide tore through precariously built homes and killed 19 people. The human cost emerged in individual voices. Luiz Estevao Aguiar told TV Globo that he had lost 11 relatives, including his sister and brother-in-law, and he spoke through tears about a loss he never expected.
Ferreira warned that the lull was not an ending, since heavy rain was forecast for the days ahead. President Jair Bolsonaro announced he would travel to Recife the next day. The disaster follows a painful year of floods in Brazil, including the February deaths of more than 230 people in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro state, and another 14 deaths there last month. Experts link the downpours to La Nina and to climate change, which warms the atmosphere and lets it hold more water, while steep terrain and poor construction multiply the danger. Meteorologists say the rain comes from eastern waves, seasonal disturbances that travel from Africa toward Brazil's northeastern coast.
With 56 people still missing and more rain on the way, the coming days will test whether the searchers can move faster than the weather.
On Sunday morning the rain over Recife finally eased, and roughly 1,200 rescue personnel went back to work in the mud. Brazil's northeast had spent the previous day and night under torrential downpours. By the time the sky cleared, the government was counting the damage in the tens of dead and missing.
Speaking at a press conference in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state, regional development minister Daniel Ferreira gave the tally: 44 dead, 56 missing, 25 injured, 3,957 people without shelter and 533 displaced. The death toll had climbed from 34 the day before. At least 28 of the dead were killed in landslides, as rivers overflowed and torrents of mud carried away what stood in their path.
The scale of the rain explains much of it. Between Friday night and Saturday morning, some parts of Recife received 70 per cent of the rainfall that had been forecast for the whole month of May.
One of the worst-hit places was Jardim Monteverde, on the border between Recife and the municipality of Jaboatao dos Guararapes. A landslide there on Saturday morning tore through precariously built homes and killed 19 people. Local media showed rescue workers and volunteers clearing heaps of debris from the site.
The human cost showed in individual accounts. Luiz Estevao Aguiar, who lives in a different municipality, told TV Globo that he lost 11 relatives, among them his sister and brother-in-law. Speaking through tears, he said it had been difficult and that he had not expected it.
Ferreira urged people not to read the pause as an ending. Although it had stopped raining, he said, heavy rain was forecast for the next few days, and the first priority was for people to keep up self-protection measures. President Jair Bolsonaro said on Sunday that he would travel to Recife on Monday following what he called a tragedy.
The disaster follows others. Over the past year hundreds of Brazilians have died in floods and landslides driven by heavy rain. In February more than 230 people were killed in Petropolis, the 19th-century summer capital of the Brazilian empire, in Rio de Janeiro state. Early last month, 14 more people died in flooding and landslides in the same state.
Experts point to several causes. Brazil's rainy-season downpours are being intensified by La Nina, the cyclical cooling of the Pacific Ocean, and by climate change, since a warmer atmosphere holds more water and raises the risk and severity of flooding from extreme rain. Topography and poor construction compound the danger, especially in shantytowns built on steep ground. Meteorologist Estael Sias of the MetSul agency said the rain over Pernambuco, and to a lesser degree four other northeastern states, comes from a typical seasonal phenomenon called eastern waves: areas of atmospheric disturbance that travel from Africa to Brazil's northeastern coast. Elsewhere over the Atlantic such instability forms hurricanes, he said, but in the northeast it can bring heavy rain and even thunderstorms.
With 56 people still missing and more rain forecast, the coming days will test whether the searchers can work faster than the weather returns.
Citazioni salienti
Although it has stopped raining now, we are forecasting heavy rains for the next few days, so the first thing is to maintain self-protection measures.— Daniel Ferreira, minister of regional development
Luiz Estevao Aguiar said he lost 11 relatives, including his sister and brother-in-law.— Luiz Estevao Aguiar, to TV Globo
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