In December 1999, Venezuelans were far too preoccupied with the approaching Christmas season and a new constitution to heed the potential dangers of days of unyielding rain. Millions of people living along bloating rivers and saturated mountainsides failed to evacuate. When the mountains gave way and the rivers merged with the sea, entire communities were buried by massive mudslides or swept away in violent waters. As news of the ongoing tragedy reached the rest of the country, people wanted to help, but they did not know where to begin.
Some families still live in homes that are half buried in mud.
A chaos of bodies, sirens and cries for help filled the streets of the disaster-struck region in Vargas state and Caracas. Ordinary citizens, rescue workers and emergency vehicles seemed to be going in every direction, with nobody aware of what anybody else was doing. The government called on the military to reach disaster victims by air as relief workers struggled to cross flooded and washed away streets with truckloads of food, water and medicines. Disaster survivors who had walked dozens of miles to escape the mud and floods arrived in crowded Caracas hospitals and shelters seeking food, water, medical attention and a place to sleep. Nobody was expecting a disaster of this magnitude.