Caracas, Europe Brief News – At least 22 people dead and 52 went missing as heavy rains hit Las Tejerías town, in north-central Venezuela.
Local authorities said that several families remain trapped in their homes by the mud.
The Venezuelan armed forces planned to deploy canines and drones to find the missing residents and to deliver food and medicine, one top military officer, Remigio Ceballos, said at the news conference in Las Tejerías, about 40 miles southwest of the capital, Caracas.
Venezuela ’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, said at the news conference that the authorities were making every effort to get them out alive. But almost two dozen people are dead.
“We have lost children, girls, all very regrettable,” Ms. Rodríguez said.
The rains began late Saturday afternoon, and intensified throughout the night. Overflowing streams carried away trees and electricity poles, and damaged homes and businesses. Cellphone service, already spotty in the region, was almost wiped out by the storm.
Some 20,000 homes throughout the surrounding Santos Michelena municipality were affected, according to the Red Cross in Aragua State.
On Sunday, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, declared the area a disaster zone and announced three days of national mourning. His vice president said the government would provide shelter for victims. The authorities will also support for damaged businesses and aid to farmers who lost crops.
This is ordinarily Venezuela’s rainy season, but it has been especially bad this year.