People watch rescue efforts after homes fell due to heavy rain in Caracas, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
People watch rescue efforts after homes fell due to heavy rain in Caracas, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
A helicopter prepares to drop water and food for flood victims in Barlovento, about 48km east of Caracas. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: Reuters
A woman cries after being rescued from her house which had collapsed during torrential rains in the low-income sector of Tamanaquito in Caracas. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: Reuters
A man carries a refrigerator while evacuating from a high-risk zone for landslides in the low-income sector of Tamanaquito in Caracas. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: Reuters
A woman sits with her belongings and her bird as she evacuates from her home after nearby homes fell due to heavy rains in Caracas, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
People sit in a flooded street in Higuerote, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
People sit with their belongings after being evacuated from their home after nearby homes fell due to heavy rains in Caracas, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
People play dominos in a flooded street in Higuerote, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
A woman carries two girls through a flooded street in Higuerote, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
A boy carries a girl on his back through a flooded street in Higuerote, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
A woman stands in a flooded street in Higuerote, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
People float on inner tubes through a flooded street in Higuerote, Venezuela. Flooding and landslides unleashed by torrential rains have killed at least 30 people in Venezuela and forced thousands from their homes. Photo: AP
A woman makes a call on a phone in a makeshift shelter after being evacuated from her house in Caracas November 30, 2010. More than a dozen people have died and thousands have been forced from their houses after weeks of downpours in Venezuela that have caused flooding and mudslides. REUTERS/Jorge Silva (VENEZUELA - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT)
A woman looks out over a swollen river in La Guaira, Venezuela. Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. Photo: AP
An aerial view shows floodwaters in Barlovento, about 48km east of Caracas. More than a dozen people died and thousands were forced from their houses after heavy downpours caused flooding and mudslides. Photo: Reuters
Published Dec 1, 2010
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Thousands of Venezuelans fled their homes after landslides and swollen rivers killed at least 30 people and threatened to cause more damage. The stormy weather closed most of the OPEC member nation's two largest oil refineries. Millions of poor Venezuelans live in unplanned, hillside shantytowns in Caracas and along the Caribbean coast. Sustained rain conjures up memories of a devastating 1999 landslide that killed at least 10 000 people.
Small mudslides toppled dozens of houses, and crushing cars and blocking roads this week. Most of the 21 died in landslides, while others were swept away by a river.
