At least 27 people are dead following a string of landslides in the mountains of Brazil's Rio de Janeiro State.

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed in the mudslides, which were brought on by heavy rains.

Seventeen inches of rain fell here in just 24 hours - that's almost double the average for March.

Rescue workers have been working around the clock, searching for survivors and bodies.

The risks of avalanches in areas like this are particularly high - and authorities have vowed to take "more drastic" measures to stop people from building homes in dangerous areas.

Some residents, too, have decided to pack up and leave, saying they no longer wish to put their families at risk.

Floods and landslides killed about 1,000 people in the region in 2011, in Brazil's worst natural disaster on record.

Projects promised by local authorities since then haven't materialized, though warning sirens installed in the region have helped to reduce the number of d