(13 Jan 2011)
671734
Brazil – mudslides kill hundreds
AP TELEVISION
Teresopolis – 13 January 2011
1. Wide of destroyed village
2. Wide of car stuck in mud
3. Wide of a rushing water
4. Debris in street
671779
Brazil – At least 381 die in mudslides in mountain towns north of Rio
AP TELEVISION
Teresopolis – 13 January 2011
5. Medium shot damaged house
6. Rescue workers outside house
STORYLINE:
On January 12th 2011 walls of earth and water swept away homes in the mountains north of Rio de Janeiro, wiping out families and leaving survivors scrambling to reach still-trapped neighbours.
At least 350 people died in three towns after the slides hit at about 3 a.m. (0100GMT) on January 12th, and 50 or more were still missing, according to officials and reliable local news reports.
It is estimated that around 15,000 people have been made homeless by the floods.
Nearly all the homes in their Caleme neighbourhood were swept to the bottom of a hill.
Tangles of plumbing were wrapped in trees, childrens’ clothing littered the earth, massive trees were tossed about.
A river of water and mud flowed through the streets as a light rain continued to fall on January 13th.
Only a few rescuers had managed to hike to Caleme by January 13th and they only had shovels and machetes – not the heavier equipment that may be needed to hunt for survivors.
Residents said they had no food, water or medication, and many made the long walk for help to the centre of Teresopolis, about 40 miles (65 kilometres) north of Rio.
One resident said he’d not seen such floods in the past 20 years.
“People were crying for help and we couldn’t do anything, the water that came down was incredible,” he said.
Such disasters hit Brazil annually in its rainy summer season and unduly punish the poor, who often live in rickety shacks perched perilously on steep hillsides with little or no foundations.
Rio state’s Civil Defence department reported that 152 people died in Teresopolis and 36 in neighbouring Petropolis.
The Globo TV network, citing the mayor’s office of Nova Friburgo, said 168 people were killed in that town.
The Civil Defence department earlier said 107 were dead there; officials were not immediately available to confirm the new figure.
Morgues in the cities were full and bodies covered in blankets were laid out in streets.
Officials said the area hit by slides had seen 10 inches (26 centimetres) of rain in less than 24 hours.
More rain, possibly heavy at times, is forecast through the weekend.
Survivors across the region were seen wading through waist-high water, carrying what belongings they could, trying to reach higher ground.
Many tried desperately to find relatives, though phone service was out in the region and many people were still missing hours after the rain stopped.
The mayor of Teresopolis, Jorge Mario Sedlacek, decreed a state of emergency, calling the calamity “the worst to hit the town.”
About 800 search-and-rescue workers from the state’s civil defence department and firefighters were digging for survivors, but hopes were dimming.
Deadly flooding and slides hit neighbouring states in recent days as well.
Heavy rainfall caused havoc in Minas Gerais state north of Rio, where 16 people died in the past month and dozens of communities are in a state of emergency.
In Sao Paulo, flooding paralysed main thoroughfares in the capital city since Sunday January 9th and 21 people died in collapsed homes, mudslides and flooding throughout the state.
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Post time: Jun-19-2017