34 dead in Venezuela landslide; survival stories emerge

Monday, following a major landslide in central Venezuela, rescue teams used drones and trained dogs to seek survivors as the death toll rose to 34 and villagers described terrifying escapes from the muck and water.

The water level in Jose Medina's home in the village of Las Tejeras on Saturday night reached the waist, as he recalled. He understood he and his family were trapped.

Therefore, the 63-year-old grandfather flipped his refrigerator on its side, opened the door, and utilized it as a boat for his granddaughter. In the meantime, he and his wife clung to the refrigerator and secured it to a table so that the strong currents of water would not carry them downstream.

Medina stated that their survival was a "miracle."

The elderly construction worker who lost his home and all of his possessions stated, "I'm glad we're alive, but I'm also sad."

Hurricane Julia's torrential rains triggered mudslides and floods that damaged numerous mountainside neighborhoods in Las Tejerias, where he lived.

Officials in the cash-strapped South American nation reported on Monday that at least 34 people perished in the flooding and 60 are missing as a result of the biggest natural disaster to strike in recent memory.

Crews were using heavy machinery to clear debris from communities whose roadways were still clogged by mud in Las Tejerias, a population of 50,000 people located along Venezuela's main industrial corridor. Meanwhile, rescue crews utilized drones and dogs to locate anybody buried beneath the rubble.

"We are still hoping to find people who can be saved," Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said as she toured one of the mudslide-affected areas.

The country's terrible economic state will make recovery more difficult for those who survived.

Medina stated that his pension, which is tied to Venezuela's minimum wage, is only $17 per month. Now he will need government assistance to survive, but he considers himself fortunate to have lost no family members in the mudslide.

Authorities in Venezuela said that 317 homes in Las Tejerias were destroyed by the mudslide and an additional 750 homes were damaged.

Residents reported that they had only minutes to evacuate their homes on Saturday evening, when an avalanche of mud, rocks, and tree trunks washed over multiple hillside communities.

Residents reported that some individuals were praying at an evangelical church when the mudslide occurred, while others were at a children's party. Several missing children are children.

On Sunday, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, proclaimed three days of mourning for the deceased and dispatched rescue crews to Las Tejerias, which is located along a highway connecting Caracas to the industrial city of Valencia. According to Maduro, eleven states in Venezuela were affected by flooding over the weekend.