At least 257 dead as rains pummel Brazil regions

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Floods and landslides  devastated mountain towns near Rio de Janeiro and killed    dozens, bringing the death toll yesterday from heavy rains  in Brazil’s south to at least 257.
At least 130 people were killed in Teresopolis, about 62  miles (100 km) north of Rio, town officials said, after  hillsides and riverbanks buckled under the equivalent of a  month’s rainfall in 24 hours, sending water and mud surging  through communities.
At least 20 people were killed in the city of Petropolis,  and 107 in the town of Nova Friburgo, state officials said in  an e-mailed statement.
The rains sweeping southeastern Brazil also killed 13  people in Sao Paulo state yesterday and snarled transport in  the country’s financial capital.
About 50 people were believed missing just in Teresopolis,  the city’s mayor, Jorge Mario, told Globo television.
“Rescue teams are still arriving in the areas that have  been worst affected,” he said, adding that about 1,000 people  had been left homeless. “It’s the biggest catastrophe in the  history of the town.”
Thousands of people in the picturesque area, known as the  Serrana region, were isolated by the flood waters and cut off  from power and telephone contact.
The downpour caused at least one river to burst its banks,  submerging cars and destroying houses in Teresopolis,  television images showed.
“I saw six bodies on my street,” 53-year-old Teresopolis  resident Antonio Venancio, whose house was inundated with mud  but remained standing, told Reuters by telephone.
“We just don’t know what to do in the face of something so  horrible.”
Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral said in a statement he had  asked the Navy for aircraft to take rescue crews and equipment  to the region, which was partially cut off from Rio by road.
In Nova Friburgo, three fireman were missing after being  buried by a mudslide while they tried to rescue victims,  according to fire officials. One three-story house collapsed on  Tuesday, killing three people, including two children.
Buses and trucks were shown stranded on streets with flood  waters reaching up to their windows.