Rio de Janeiro -- Driving rains sent tons of rusty red earth sliding into mountain towns , killing over 400 people and leaving dozens more missing , Brazilian media reported Thursday .
Hillsides and river banks in the picturesque Serrana region north of Rio de Janeiro buckled under about 10 inches of rain -- the equivalent of a month's rainfall in 24 hours -- destroying houses and killing many people early Wednesday , rescue officials said .
Television footage showed many houses buried in mud as desperate residents and rescue workers searched for survivers . "There was no way of telling which house would fall . Rich and poor ... everything was destroyed ," resident Fernanda Carvalho was quoted as saying by the Clobo network's website .
"I saw 6 bodies on my street ," said Antonio Venancio , whose house was inundated with mud but remained standing . "We just don't know what to do in the face of something so horrible . At least 34 people were killed in neighboring Petropolis and 155 in the town of Nove Friburgo , Globo reported
Before resue attempts were called off because of darkness , searches used heavy machinery , shovels and bare hands trying to find survivors . In one town , firefighters resued a 25-year-old man who held his 6-month son for 15 hours until they were both pulled out alive . 'The man's wife and mother-in-law were feared dead .
Flood waters continued to gush down the mountains for hours after rainstorms ended Wednesday . "There are so many disappeared ...and so many that will probably never be found ," said Angela Marina de Carvalho Silva , a resident of Tereopolis who feared she may have lost 15 relatives , including five nieces and nephews . "There was nothing we could do . It was hell," she said in a telephone interview "It's over . There's nothing . The water came and swept everything away ," said her husband , Sidney Silva.
Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral called on navy to lend helicopters to firefighters working as resuers . "We mourn the lost of lives in this tragedy caused by the rain ," Cabral said in a statement .
