Heavy Rains Kill Hundreds in Brazil

270 die as landslides hit Rio de Janeiro state
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 13, 2011 1:21 AM CST
Heavy Rains Kill Hundreds in Brazil
Cars sit in debris in a flooded street in Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil.   (AP Photo/Roberto Ferreira, Agencia O Dia)

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 270 people in southern Brazil, and the death toll is expected to rise significantly. Many families were buried as they slept in their mountain town homes near Rio de Janeiro after hillsides collapsed, Reuters reports. "There was no way of telling which house would fall. Rich and poor—everything was destroyed," said a survivor in the devastated town of Teresopolis. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has released hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency funds for the stricken areas. (More Brazil stories.)

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