Thousands have had to flee their homes Days of torrential rain have brought widespread flooding to Venezuela, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 20 people.
A state of emergency has been declared in four states, including the capital, Caracas.
Many of the deaths occurred in poor areas of the capital, where landslides have swept away houses built on steep hillsides.
The government says at least 5,600 people have been left homeless.
Flights have been disrupted at the main international airport and the road linking it to Caracas has been cut by landslides.
Worst hit have been the coastal states of Falcon, Miranda and Vargas, as well as the capital district of Caracas.
Thousands of people are living in temporary shelters, including schools, universities and army barracks.
President Hugo Chavez has offered to put people up in the presidential palace, but it is not known if anyone has taken up the offer.
Schools have been closed to protect children and reduce the amount of traffic on the roads.
Heavy rain was expected to continue for several days.
The May-November rainy season in Mexico, Central America and the northern part of South America has been extremely severe this year as a result of climatic phenomenon known as La Nina, which is caused by colder than usual water currents along the Pacific coast.
In December 1999 floods in Venezuela killed up to 30,000 people in the country's worst natural disaster in modern times.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-latin-america-11882965
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