Apocalyptic mudslides and heavy rain slams Brazil- 549 dead

January 13, 2011 – “RIO DE JANEIRO — Driving rains sent tons of rusty red earth sliding into mountain towns, killing at least 335 people and leaving dozens more missing, Brazilian media reported Thursday. Hillsides and river banks in the picturesque Serrana region north of Rio de Janeiro buckled under about 10 inches of rain — the equivalent of a month’s rainfall in 24 hours — destroying houses and killing many people early Wednesday, rescue officials said. Television footage showed many houses buried in mud as desperate residents and rescue workers searched for survivors. “There was no way of telling which house would fall. Rich and poor — everything was destroyed,” resident Fernanda Carvalho was quoted as saying by the Globo network’s website. In the hardest-hit town of Teresopolis, hundreds of family members crowded at a morgue Wednesday night waiting to identify bodies. Officials there raised the death toll from 130 to 146, Globo reported. The death toll in the region was expected to rise as firefighters reached remote valleys and steep mountainsides where neighborhoods were destroyed, Teresopolis’s mayor said. About 1,000 people there were left homeless. At least 34 people were killed in neighboring Petropolis and 155 in the town of Nova Friburgo, Globo reported, citing local officials. About 800 search-and-rescue workers from the state’s civil defense department and firefighters dug for survivors. “I believe the number of dead is much more than was announced so far,” Rio state environment secretary Carlos Minc was quoted as saying by Globo television after he flew over the region. “Many people died while they were sleeping.” –MSNBC

This video defies words…    (c) Associated Press   Update: Death-toll 506