Rescue workers dug frantically Sunday to free cars and homes buried under heaps of caked mud in Madeira, after torrential flash floods and mudslides killed at least 40 people on the popular Portuguese island.
More than 120 others were injured and an unknown number of others were missing, possibly swept away or smothered, authorities said, adding that they expected the death toll to rise.
Heavy rain lashed the island Saturday, turning some streets in capital of Funchal into raging rivers of mud, water and debris. The storm — the worst to hit the island since 1993 — also displaced 250 people.
Cars that had been swept downhill by muddy waters had landed, crumpled, on the rooftops of houses downstream. Rescue teams who had dug out one car from chocolate brown slime were seen working inside it, possibly to recover more bodies.
The death toll “will likely increase, given the circumstances of this flood,” regional [...]

Original post by ARMANDO FRANCA