Heavy Rain Causes Floods In Venezuela: 36 People Died, Rescue Teams Search Dozens Of Lost Persons

JAKARTA - Rescue teams are searching for missing victims due to floods that hit the city of Las Tejerias, Aragua, Venezuela, as the death toll increases after heavy rains that fell last weekend.

Rain on Saturday night swept through the trunk of a large tree and debris from the surrounding mountains into Las Tejerias, 40 miles (67 kilometers) southwest of Caracas, damaging businesses and agricultural land.

At least 36 people died as a result of the flood while 56 were still missing, Remgio Ceballos, deputy head of the Citizens' Security Division, told reporters in Las Tejerias Monday.

Standing in front of a house that used to be on the second floor, before the flood destroyed it, Jennifer Galendez was waiting for news about her husband, one of the people reported missing after the water inundated the city.

The flood also killed his young granddaughter, he said.

"My husband was near the window. I couldn't help him either and the water took him away," Galedez said, adding her husband Jose Segovia had severe diabetes.

Galendez went for help in the rain when he saw water entering his house, before the flood also took him.

"Water swept me away," he added, adding he finally found protection on platforms that did not have currents.

Earlier, President Nicolas Maduro said in a tweet he had designated the area a disaster zone and declared three days of mourning.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said it had been raining for a month in just eight hours, causing pumps used to power people's drinking water systems to be carried away by flood currents.

Rodriguez said its priority was to find people still trapped in mud and rock all over the city, while military and rescue personnel are also looking for survivors by the river.

"We lost a boy, a girl. What happened in Tejerias City was a tragedy," he said.

The streets of Tejerias, a city of about 73,000 people, were filled with mud, large stones and tangled tree branches and restricted by fenced houses, according to witnesses Reuters.

All houses, shops and other buildings in Las Tejerias or some were filled with mud and other debris carried by water. The area is currently without electricity or drinking water.

On Monday, a bulldozer was seen clearing the road in Las Tejerias as the sun shines after several days of rain.