Helen Mirren: Landslides in Brazil

Last week, a series of flash floods and mudslides struck the Serrana mountain region near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, destroying buildings roads and more. Nearly 14,000 people are now homeless, 759 are reported to have been killed and another 400 remain missing in this, Brazil's worst-ever natural disaster. As soldiers make their way to remote towns with aid and transportation, Brazil's government has said it would accelerate efforts to build up a nationwide disaster-prevention and early-warning system. Collected here are photos from the mountainous regions near Rio that were so hard-hit by these landslides. [Editor's note: Just a note to say thank you on this, my last day as editor of the Big Picture. Though I am moving on, this blog will continue to run here on boston.com, edited by the Globe photo department. It's been an amazing journey. -Alan] (41 photos total)

A destroyed church stands surrounded by debris and floodwaters after a landslide in Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Thursday Jan. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Rescue workers search for victims after heavy rains caused mudslides in a low-income neighborhood in Teresopolis, some 100 km from downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 12, 2011. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Rescuers hurry to help a man swept along by the waters in the flooded Kaleme neighborhood in Teresopolis, Brazil on January 12, 2011. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

The slope on a hill where a landslide occurred in Nova Friburgo, 130 km north of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 13, 2011. (Shana Reis/AFP/Getty Images)

A villager walks in a flooded street after heavy rains in Atibaia January 15, 2011. (REUTERS/Nacho Doce )

Rescue workers and residents search the rubble of a building that collapsed in a landslide in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on January 13, 2011. (REUTERS/Shana Reis-Government of Rio)

A resident walks by a car engulfed by sand after flooding in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, on January 16, 2011. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Ludmila Moura, 5, sits on a mattress at a shelter for people displaced by landslides in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011, Ludmila was pulled out of her destroyed house by her father Marcelo Moura on the first night of heavy rains last Thursday. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A flooded area in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, seen on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Brazilian marines aboard a helicopter loaded with humanitarian aid fly over an isolated area severely hit by landslides in Sumidouro, 70 Km from Teresopolis, Brazil, on January 18, 2011. (ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images)

Aerial view of an isolated area severely hit by landslides near Teresopolis, some 100 km from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 18, 2011. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Aerial view of a house at risk following landslides in the locality of Poco Fundo, an isolated area near Petropolis, Brazil on January 18, 2011. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Residents search for landslide victims in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A resident sits at home as rescue workers rummage through the scene of a landslide where they presume that around 15 people still remain buried in debris, at Jardinlandia neighborhood in Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 18, 2011. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Brazilian National Force rescue workers find the body of a man at the scene of a recent landslide, where seven people were found buried among debris in the neighborhood of Jardilandia, in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on January 19, 2011. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

A vehicle remains upside down after recent mudslides at Corrego Dantas neighbourhood, in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on January 16, 2011. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

A woman tries to recover belongings from her damaged house after a landslide in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

An aerial view of a neighborhood destroyed by landslides in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Firefighters, a National Force soldier and residents carry the body of a landslide victim from a home where the bodies of eight family members were found in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Thursday Jan. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A woman wears a face mask due to dust and smell from rotten mud after landslides in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Coffins containing bodies of landslide victims rest on the ground at a cemetery in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

For a second consecutive day, "Leao" sits next to the grave of her owner, Cristina Maria Cesario Santana, who died in this week's catastrophic landslides in Brazil, at the cemetery in Teresopolis, on January 15, 2011. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Rescue workers get on a helicopter as they leave after searching for survivor and victims in an area affected by a landslide near Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A man reacts at the place where his house once stood, before it was destroyed in a landslide in Nova Friburgo on January 18, 2011. (REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes)

Rescue workers remove a live rabbit as they search for survivors inside a home destroyed by a landslide in Teresopolis, Brazil on Thursday Jan. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A Brazilian National Force rescue worker places the bodies of two boys inside the same bodybag on the scene of a recent landslide, where seven people were found buried among debris in the neighbourhood of Jardilandia, in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on January 19, 2011. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Slopes covered by mud are seen after landslides in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A view of a landslide in Conquista on January 17, 2011. (REUTERS/Bruno Domingos)

A volunteer rescue worker holds a family picture of a man and two boys found on the scene of a recent landslide, where seven people were found buried among debris in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on January 19, 2011. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

A rescue worker and a dog, from a Spanish team associated with the N.G.O. K-9 de Creixell, search for landslide victims in a home in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Thursday Jan. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Volunteers stack up donations at a Red Cross relief station in Teresopolis, Brazil on January 19, 2011. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

A resident grabs from a wall to avoid falling into a flooded street in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on January 16, 2011. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

An army helicopter lies on the ground after crashing during rescue operations after landslides in Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011. According the to army, the crew of five survived and suffered minor injuries. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Two girls are treated at a school used as a hospital after landslides in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A girl receives a container of potable water from a soldier in the landslide affected Alto Floresta neighborhood in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Jan. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Local residents isolated by the floods get heliborne supplies in Sao Bento, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 20, 2011. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images)

A man checks a destroyed car in Conquista, Brazil on January 17, 2011. (REUTERS/Bruno Domingos)

A man washes a mannequin at a textile shop which products were destroyed by the recent floods at California neighborhood, in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on January 17, 2011. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

A firefighter reacts during a Mass in honor of landslide victims at a Catholic church in Nova Friburgo, Brazil on Tuesday Jan. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)