SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Emergency crews worked feverishly to reach survivors of flash floods and mudslides in Brazil that have killed at least 415 people and made nearly 14,000 homeless after torrential summer rains, authorities said Thursday.
Mudslides in the heavily damaged mountainous area north of the city of Rio de Janeiro could take until Saturday to clear, increasing fears of more deaths as rain remained in the forecast, authorities said.
Many residents were without electricity. Roads were blocked.
Cmdr. Jose Paulo Miranda of the Rio de Janeiro state fire department said hundreds of rescuers were doing what they could to reach victims, including using heavy equipment to clear debris.
“The aftermath of the rains was disastrous,” Miranda said. “We have many slides, too much mud and lots of destroyed houses.”
Officials said hundreds of people were killed in three Rio state towns after slides occurred about 3 a.m. Wednesday. The state’s civil defense department reported numerous deaths in Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis and Petropolis.
President Dilma Rousseff observed the region by helicopter Thursday and promised “firm action” to bring relief and reconstruction aid to victims. The government pledged more than $400 million for the area.
Flooding in southeastern Brazil since late December had killed many people before this week, officials said.
City, state and federal officials blamed lax government safety measures for contributing to the heavy toll in the area around Rio de Janeiro.
“There has been permissiveness for decades about building houses on steep slopes,” Sergio Cabral, governor of Rio de Janeiro state, told a radio reporter. “If rigid standards were applied, we’d still have victims, but not a (death) toll that’s approaching 500.”
