In Brazil, more than five hundred people have died in mudslides and floods near Rio de Janeiro this week. Media reports said today the disaster in the Serrana region was the worst ever to hit the country. This surpassed a 1967 mudslide calamity in a coastal town called Caraguatatuba in which 436 people perished. It was feared the death toll from the mudslides in the Serrana, just north of Rio, could climb further as rescuers made their way into cut-off villages. Efforts to locate survivors and bodies were taken under the risk of further mudslides, as rain continued to fall on the waterlogged region, making it even more unstable.President Dilma Rousseff said after visiting the area, the scenes are very shocking. She pledged strong action by her government, which has already released 470 million dollars in initial emergency aid and sent seven tonnes of medical supplies.