rains

Search and rescue workers are looking for more than 40 people who remain missing as towns reel from torrential rainfall.

Torrential rainfall has caused floods across the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil, killing at least 23 people.

Dozens of emergency workers, some with disaster-trained search dogs, combed through mounds of debris on Tuesday in the municipality of Juiz de Fora, which recorded at least 18 deaths.

They were on the lookout for the more than 40 people who have been missing since the rains began on Monday.

“We’ve been here since last night to see if they survive underground,” Livia Rosa, a 44-year-old seamstress, told the news service AFP.

She explained that several of her relatives were buried in the mud. “Hope is the last thing to die.”

Rainfall in the region is expected to continue for the coming days, complicating rescue efforts.

Images of the initial floods show mud and sludge clogging areas of Juiz de Fora, after a swollen river veered off course.

At least 440 people were displaced in the city, located about 310km (192 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro. At least seven deaths were also recorded in the nearby town of Uba.

The mayor of Juiz de Fora, Margarida Salomao, said that at least 20 landslides had been reported in the area, and some homes collapsed.

“Many people were inside their homes at night when it was raining,” Major Demetrius Goulart of the fire brigade told AFP. “We have hope. We found a boy this morning. He was inside a house, under the rubble. It took the team two hours of work.”

At least 108 officials from the Minas Gerais fire department have been deployed to Juiz de Fora, and 28 to Uba.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the government would assist in any way it could and offered his support to those affected.

“Our focus is to ensure humanitarian assistance, the restoration of basic services, support for displaced people, and aid for reconstruction,” he wrote in a social media post.

Salomao said in a social media post that the province has experienced its wettest February on record.

“There were more than 180mm [of rain] in four hours, intense, destructive and persistent,” he said, calling it “the saddest day of my administration”.

“Here, we remain fully committed and prioritising saving lives.”

Torrential downpours cause deadly mudslides in southern Peru, while more than 300 districts across the country declare states of emergency.

Peruvian authorities say they have recovered the bodies of a father and son who died in a mudslide triggered by heavy rains, which have battered the country’s southern regions of Ica and Arequipa, affecting an estimated 5,500 homes and forcing many people to evacuate.

Authorities in Arequipa have called on the country’s interim president to declare a state of emergency in the region as the governor announced that multiple shelters were being opened to house those fleeing the floods.

Peru’s Council of Ministers said on Monday that more than 700 districts nationwide have been declared in emergency status.

In Cayma, Arequipa, a vehicle was seen semi-buried under mud, and homes teetered on the verge of collapse after flash floods swept away the earth and destroyed roadways, the Reuters news agency reported.

According to the Associated Press news agency, the bodies of a father and son were recovered after being swept away by a landslide.

The recovery came a day after 15 people were killed when a military helicopter crashed while providing rescue services during the flooding.

Rescue teams found the wreckage of the helicopter in the Chala district, officials said. Seven children were among the 11 passengers and four crew members who died, according to the AFP news agency.

Torrential downpours have caused widespread damage across southern Peru, affecting about 5,500 homes and forcing many residents to evacuate.

Images shared by Peruvian media showed streets torn up in the affected areas and vehicles buried deep in the mud slides as rescue workers attempted to clear streets using mechanical earth movers.

The El Niño Costero (coastal) climate phenomenon has been the cause of the recent weeks of heavy rain in Peru, weather forecasters report, and is expected to strengthen slightly next month, threatening more heavy rain.

While El Niño is a natural cycle that has existed for millennia, scientists increasingly link its severity to climate change. Rising global temperatures provide a warmer “baseline” for the ocean, making it easier for these extreme heating events to reach record-breaking thresholds and increasing the atmosphere’s capacity to hold the moisture that fuels torrential rain and catastrophic flooding.

The town is the wettest place on Earth, with an average of 11,873mm of rainfall each year – 22 times more than London and 11 times more than Glasgow

The wettest spot on the planet receives 22 times more rain than London and frequently experiences downpours so severe that venturing outdoors becomes hazardous.

In the UK, it has been a truly miserable winter. Cornwall and County Down recorded their wettest January on record, while Northern Ireland saw its wettest January is 149 years. Across the UK, 26 stations set new monthly records for the highest January rainfall. Daily records also fell. Plymouth recorded its wettest January day in 104 years. And February has been no better so far. As of February 9, southern England had seen 72% of its monthly average.

There is a place in India that makes all of this look pathetic.

Mawsynram is tucked within the verdant forests of the Khasi Hills in India’s far eastern reaches, perched above Bangladesh. It boasts stunning scenery, but remains perpetually drenched. The town sees approximately 11,873mm of annual rainfall, nearly 11 times the 1,109mm that drenches notoriously wet Glasgow and a staggering 22 times London’s yearly 585mm.

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Jyotiprasad Oza has spent his entire life in the town, earning his living by guiding inquisitive tourists through the area with TourHQ. Visitors travel from across the globe to witness existence in Earth’s soggiest location, with travellers routinely journeying from America and Britain.

“We get about 10,000 tourists a year. During rainy time people like to visit because it’s very heavy rainfall, especially June to September,” Jyotiprasad explained to the Mirror just as storm clouds – rather unsurprisingly – started gathering overhead.

Mawsynram’s rainfall differs markedly from precipitation elsewhere. Once it begins, it can persist relentlessly for days. Locals often rush indoors when the deluge begins, only to discover the torrent hasn’t ceased for an entire week. Yet it’s not merely duration that sets it apart.

During one extraordinary June day last decade, a staggering 1,003mm of rain drenched the town – double London’s entire annual precipitation. The consequences of such torrential downpours on Mawsynram can be utterly catastrophic.

“During the time of heavy rainfall, it is impossible to go outside. We can’t do our daily walk. We are not supposed to go outside during the rainy time. Sometimes children can’t go to school during the rain. It is quite dangerous,” Jyotiprasad explained.

When the monsoon arrives, landslides and flooding pose severe risks to residents’ safety, whilst power cuts become routine and fresh water systems struggle to cope. But beyond these immediate perils, the unrelenting dampness leaves many locals yearning for drier climes.

“We prefer to move to where it gets less rain,” Jyotiprasad said, noting that hardly anyone chooses to relocate to the region.

Multiple factors contribute to the town’s extraordinary precipitation levels. Perched 1,400m above sea level, Mawsynram experiences a highland climate intensified by humid, tropical air masses that sweep up from the Bay of Bengal throughout the monsoon season, whilst the positioning of the Khasi Hills creates a natural barrier that blocks airflow from the bay.

Locals in Mawsynram have devised ingenious methods to prevent the relentless downpours from completely upending their daily lives. Numerous homes are constructed with soundproofing to block out the thunderous drumming of rainfall.

On days when a heavy waterproof jacket and wellington boots simply aren’t sufficient, traditional full-body umbrellas known as Knups offer popular protection from the deluge. These substantial shell-shaped contraptions are fashioned from bamboo and banana leaves.

The rainfall isn’t the sole attraction drawing people to Mawsynram. The stunning scenery, vantage points and cascading waterfalls throughout the region prove enormously popular with those who appreciate the natural world.

A particular magnet for visitors are the Nohkalikai Waterfalls, ranked as the fourth tallest globally.