Flood Journal Entry

Rains Trigger Floods in Venezuela (December 15, 1999)

Heavy rains triggered massive floods and mudslides on the northern coast of Venezuela. 200,000 people are homeless and thousands of others have been killed or are missing in what has been called Venezuela's worst natural disaster of the century. Venezuela's civil defense director says the toll may climb as high as 30,000.

Entire neighborhoods in the low-lying areas north of the capital Caracas have been swallowed up by floodwaters. Many of the victims were living in shantytowns perched on the sides of El Avila mountain above Caracas, where two million of the capital's six million people live.