Arelis Villareal climbed onto a fence with her four children to avoid being swept away by the water. "We lost everything, even our documents," she says after losing the home where she had lived for 22 years in a town in the Venezuelan Andes that was devastated by the rains. The Chama River swept through several towns in western Venezuela's Merida state, carrying rocks and tree trunks in its current. About 270 families were left homeless and two people died, according to official figures. While bulldozers clear debris in Apartaderos village, volunteers on motorcycles distribute aid to those affected by the floods. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES