At least 26 people have died, and several more are missing, after a series of floods and landslide events hit the Vale do Aço metropolitan area of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, on Sunday 12 and Monday 13 January 2025. Nine of the fatalies, including a nine-year-old boy, occurred when a landslide in the Betânia neighbourhood of the city of Ipatinga, where a landslide swept along a steeply inclined street, destroying a number of homes. Other fatalities, including in at least two further children, were caused by landslides in the Betânia, Canaã, and Vila Celeste neighbourhoods of the city, and another in the city of Santana do Paraíso, to the north of Ipatinga. The events followed several days of heavy precipitation in the area, with 326 mm of rain falling between Saturday 11 and Monday 13 January, including 80 mm in an hour on Saturday night. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.
Southern Brazil has a rainy season that lasts from October to March, with peak rains from mid-November to mid-January, however, this year's rains have been exceptionally strong. Brazil has suffered a string of flood-related disasters in recent years, most notably in 2011, when over 800 people died. The country has a rapidly growing population, with little effective urban planning, which has led to sprawling urban developments springing up with little thought to natural hazards, and in particular poorer neighbourhoods often expanding up unstable hillsides, with the result that when floods occur (which is not unusual) communities are often quickly overwhelmed.
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