A youth used a makeshift raft yesterday to cross a flooded street in the Vila Itaim neighborhood of Sao Paulo. (Nelson Antoine/Associated Press)
TERESOPOLIS, Brazil — Walls of earth and water swept away homes in the mountains north of Rio de Janeiro, wiping out families and leaving survivors scrambling yesterday to reach trapped neighbors.
At least 464 people died in three Rio state towns after slides hit about 3 a.m. Wednesday....
A tremendous rumble awoke Geisa Carvalho, 19. and her mother, Vania Ramos, as tons of earth slid down a sheer granite rock face onto their neighborhood. The power was out, but by lightning flashes they could see a torrent of mud and water rushing just a few feet from their home — and the remnants of their neighbors’ houses that were swept far down a hill.
Carvalho and Ramos said they ran out of their home moments after the mudslide and joined neighbors in digging for survivors with bare hands and sticks. They quickly located a family of four that had died under the rubble of their home — and said another neighbor’s 2-month-old baby was washed away in his crib and has yet to be found.
Nearly all the homes in their Caleme neighborhood were swept to the bottom of a hill, seemingly turned inside out. Tangles of plumbing were wrapped in trees, children’s’ clothing littered the earth, massive trees were tossed about like toothpicks....
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"As rain eases, helicopters carry aid to desperate mudslide victims in Brazil" by Associated Press / January 17, 2011
TERESOPOLIS, Brazil — A break in near-constant rain yesterday allowed Brazilian rescue helicopters to deliver desperately needed food and water to some of the neighborhoods buried under tons of earth in mudslides that killed more than 600 people.
After the rain clouds lifted, about a dozen helicopters buzzed around the craggy peaks of the emerald-green mountains in this area about 40 miles north of Rio de Janeiro....
The helicopters were not immediately being used to evacuate people from areas that are still at risk of more mudslides should rains return. Instead, they were concentrating on getting supplies to as many isolated areas as possible to keep people there alive.
The disaster hit in the early-morning hours Wednesday, when days of heavy rains unleashed tons of earth, rock, and raging torrents of water down steep mountainsides and directly into towns over an area of about 900 square miles....
Desperate survivors have complained of receiving no help. Brazil’s government at all levels has come under criticism for the lack of speed in helping the victims.
But Anderson Correia de Oliveira, the local police commander, and other officials said that reaching the most remote and desperate areas was impossible by helicopter until yesterday. The area hit by the slides is full of steep mountains with jagged peaks, making navigation challenging even in good weather, he said. With clouds that hovered well below the mountaintops for days, helicopters could not be used.
That has meant people have simply had to save themselves, mostly by hiking miles from their neighborhoods down to the center of Teresopolis to fetch supplies.
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"Troops sent in to build bridges for cleanup, recovery in Brazil’s mudslide areas" by Associated Press / January 18, 2011
Brazilian Air Force members yesterday helped a woman and her child rescued from the mudslides north of Rio de Janiero. (Vanderlei Almeida/ AFP/ Getty Images) TERESOPOLIS, Brazil — Brazil’s army sent 700 soldiers yesterday to help throw a lifeline to desperate neighborhoods that have been cut off from food, water, or help in recovering bodies since mudslides killed at least 655 people....
Days of heavy rains unleashed tons of earth, rock, and raging torrents of water down steep, forested mountainsides Wednesday, directly into towns that are weekend getaways for the Rio area.
Rescuers had yet to reach about 20 neighborhoods, though a break in rains and better visibility allowed about 12 helicopters to begin taking supplies and firefighters in, while shuttling injured survivors out.
But pilots said flying was still treacherous in the area full of jagged mountain peaks, where there are few safe landing zones and power lines are draped between peaks through seemingly clear space.
“All levels of government have come under heavy criticism for not alerting people to the dangers — and of allowing homes to be built in high-risk areas.
Local mayors have said they did not receive any warning a storm of that magnitude was about to hit....
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