As many as 30,000 people may have been killed in the devastating floods in Venezuela, say the authorities.

As the country appealed for international help in dealing with the catastrophe, a senior civil defence official, Angel Rangel, said many bodies remained buried in the mud that swept through entire coastal communities.

Estimates of the numbers killed have varied widely due to the chaos. Mr Rangel has warned that the final number of dead would never be known.

President Hugo Chavez is now urging survivors to leave the worst-hit areas to avoid the health risks caused by the destruction of water and sewerage facilities.

He has outlined plans for a huge rehabilitation effort to resettle homeless survivors. In the short-term, he wants new homes built on military bases and farms donated by landowners.

But a BBC correspondent in Venezuela says finding permanent houses for the tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands who lost their homes is going to be a significant challenge.

Click here to see a map of the flood-affected areas

Mr Chavez has urged people not affected by the floods to open their doors to refugees, as emergency shelters in Caracas and other major towns are overwhelmed by the numbers seeking help.

He has made the presidential residence available to children whose parents are missing.

Heart-breaking stories

Some heart-breaking stories have already emerged from survivors and those trapped in buildings.

One newspaper told how a man trapped with his family, some of them dead, called a radio station on a mobile phone.

As he pleaded for help, Mr Chavez came on the line to urge him to stay calm.

The Venezuelan ambassador in London, Roy Chaderton-Matos, told the BBC that Venezuela was unable to cope with the scale of the disaster which he described as both bleak and beyond the worst nightmares of the Venezuelan people.

Most of the victims were buried under tonnes of mud, rocks and tree trunks. Some were swept out to sea as mountainsides came crashing through towns, ripping up everything in their path.

People are still streaming out of the worst-hit coastal areas, which are now uninhabitable, in search of food, water and shelter.

The capital, Caracas, is one of the worst hit areas, along with the provinces of Vargas, Zulia and Miranda.

Nine northern states and the capital have been declared disaster areas.

The priority is to get people out of the affected areas, and helicopters are running an almost non-stop shuttle throughout daylight hours. The government has sent naval ships to rescue the stranded.

The BBC's correspondent says there is also an urgent need to deal with the dead because of the threat of disease.

"There are bodies in the sea, bodies buried under the mud, bodies everywhere," Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel said.

International aid

Venezuela is being offered millions of dollars - including $3m pledged by the US - and tonnes of food and medicine to help survivors. But Mr Rangel has said much more is needed.

Officials predict that entire states will have to be rebuilt from scratch. They say that even those homes that are still standing will have to be bulldozed because it is simpler than trying to clear away the mud from beneath them.

Supply planes, helicopters, soldiers and medics have arrived from the US, Mexico and Cuba, and other countries have pledged aid.

Venezuelan officals have warned that the disaster could force the postponement of general elections due to be held next month, following the approval last week of a new constitution.

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