At least 46 people have been killed in devastating floods which hit the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, while thousands have been displaced.
According to the state fire department, 21 people remain missing while about 3,600 people have been displaced by flooding and landslides in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba.
The two cities are about 110km (68 miles) apart and some 310 kilometers (192 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro.
Juiz de Fora resident Ricardo Dutra lost his 11-year-old son, Bernardo Lopes Dutra – whose funeral was held on Wednesday after he was killed when the rain caused his house to collapse.
People were killed in the city of Uba after a river burst its banks and flooded central streets. Pic:dpa/AP Images
Mr Dutra’s daughter and wife are being treated in hospital.
“I’m trying to pick up the pieces,” he said, as his city’s streets were covered in mud and authorities feared more landslides.
“It’s a tragedy that no one was expecting,” Mr Dutra added as he described Bernardo as “a boy with a big heart who, in his own way, touched everyone around him”.
Mayor Margarida Salomão said at least 20 landslides had been reported since the torrential rain began Monday evening.
Rescue workers search for people among the debris of a house that collapsed due to heavy rains, in Juiz de Fora. Pic: Prefeitura de Juiz de Fora/Reuters
Pic: Prefeitura de Juiz de Fora/Reuters
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The Rev. Ananias Simoes, the pastor at the church that Mr Dutra and his family regularly attended in the 560,000-strong city of Juiz de Fora, said the building has been turned into a temporary shelter.
“We’re doing what we can, collecting food, water. We’re in a war situation,” Simoes said.
Roads are full of mud after heavy rainfall in south-eastern Brazil. Pic:dpa/AP Images
Dario Tiberio, a 41-year-old truck driver, decided to leave his house along with his family for fear of collapse.
He found refuge at the church, while he waits on authorities to say his home is risk-free.
“There’s a danger that the mud and earth can come and bury us along with the debris. We have this feeling of insecurity,” he said.
Classes were suspended in both Juiz de Fora and the 107,000-strong Uba, their mayors said.
Juiz de Fora’s city hall said in a statement on Wednesday that around 600 families living in endangered areas were about to be relocated to local schools improvised as shelters and that the city experienced double the rain expected for February.
Brazil’s federal government has sped up relief and humanitarian aid to the region, sending health agents and national defence professionals, according to a statement.
“No matter how hard you try, at some point you feel powerless. You witness a situation like this – people trapped in the rubble – and there is nothing more you can do, your contribution has a limit,” said Nalvan Luiz, a friend of Bernardo Dutra, at the funeral.
