Rushing water splits a road in two in southeast Brazil.<br/> People use ropes to carry their belongings across a ravine and hoist furniture onto rooftops.<br/> Constant rains sent have river levels soaring and burst a dam on Thursday in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where almost 20,000 people have lost their homes to floodwaters.<br/> The army has deployed to help evacuate residents. Civil Defence agent Edson Pessanha.<br/> (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) CIVIL DEFENCE AGENT, EDSON PESSANHA, SAYING:<br/> "We are removing people and leading them to a higher place with tents. Later, we will guide them to the closest schools."<br/> Flooding is common in Brazil during the rainy season months of December and January.<br/> 900 people were killed and thousands uprooted last year in the mountainous Rio de Janeiro region as rivers of mud and water battered their towns.<br/> Katharine Jackson, Reuters.
