by Juan Limachi
LIMA， March 24 (Xinhua) -- Erika Antonia Ramirez was asleep as usual at midnight Tuesday. But her slumber was quickly interrupted by yells of "a mudslide is coming."
Ramirez， along with her children and husband， jumped out of bed and left their home. It was about 1:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) in the morning.
Murky waters soon filled her humble home， located at the foot of a hill in the Peruvian coastal town of Huarmey， as she and her family and other residents headed for higher ground.
"We tried to protect our home. We filled sacks with sand， but it was impossible，" Ramirez told Xinhua， adding that "the mudslide entered all the houses."
Huarmey， known for its charming sun-splashed beaches， was inundated by muddy floodwater earlier this week and is now slowly recovering.
Located in the northern Ancash region， Huarmey is one of the towns hardest hit by torrential rains unleashed since December by the so-called coastal El Nino phenomenon， which has killed 85 people， injured 270 and left 20 missing.
Ramirez's neighborhood， called Victoria， is home to about 1，000 people， who all had to spend the next two nights atop the hill， with nothing to use as shelter.
"We went to the hill， where we slept all night. It is horrible， terrible. We all slept on the hill in the first and second nights. In the third night， as it was a little calmer， we went back down，" said Ramirez.
The homes they left behind are still filled with mud， and possibly at risk of collapsing.
"What's urgent are tents， mattresses， clothes， food and water to survive，" she said.
The situation is aggravated by the lack of electricity， since the local plant was also flooded.
"We don't have light. We don't have anything. We don't have a way to communicate with each other，" said Ramirez.
Already homeless， the children have also been left without a school， which like many others in the city， was closed due to damage.
Manuel Perez Vera， who lives in the Laguna district of town， has been trying to salvage a few of his belongings， although damaged by the sustained flooding.
"On Wednesday night， past midnight， the waters came to about my neck，" he said.
"The whole house， since it is made of adobe， is useless. We recovered several things， but the rest stayed，" said Perez， as he picked through mud and water.
"As you can see， everything here is inundated. Look at how far the water reached， almost to half of the homes. Only a few things have been saved，" said Perez， who also survived the flooding by heading for the hilltops.
The fetid smell of standing water， mixed with the stench from broken sewage pipes and rotting animal carcasses， lingers in the air.
The rains have affected scores of towns along coastal Peru， where communities are struggling to recover.
According to the National Civil Defense Institute， around 800，000 people have been left homeless.
While humanitarian aid is arriving from other countries， recovery efforts will need some time given the magnitude of the disaster.
Jennifer Lawrence Photo: IC
Oscar-winning Jennifer Lawrence was named the world's highest-paid actress for the second year running on Tuesday adidas nmd shoes uk , with estimated pre-tax earnings of $46 million.
The 26-year-old American raked in the lion's share from a profit share in the final Hunger Games movie, which grossed $650 million, Forbes magazine said.
An upfront fee for the forthcoming space thriller Passengers also helped the 26-year-old push her pay day above second-ranked Melissa McCarthy adidas ultra boost uk , who pocketed $33 million.
The world's 10 highest-paid actresses made a combined $205 million in the 12 months from June 1, 2015 before fees and taxes, said Forbes.
But the actors' list due to be published on Thursday is expected to show once again men banking far more than their female counterparts.
The issue of pay disparity grabbed headlines in 2014 after a leak of stolen e-mails from Sony Pictures Entertainment showed that Lawrence was paid less than her male co-stars in the hit movie American Hustle.
Patricia Arquette also railed against the industry's gender-based wage gap during her acceptance speech after winning a statuette at last year's Academy Awards.
Perennial A-list darling Scarlett Johansson came in third with $25 million adidas yeezy boost 350 v2 uk , while Jennifer Aniston, who makes most of her cash through endorsements, bagged $21 million.
Fan Bingbing of China rounded out the top five adidas yeezy boost 350 uk , making the list for the second consecutive year with $17 million.
From left: Blake Lively, Woody Allen and Kristen Stewart Photo: IC
Hollywood decamped to Cannes Wednesday where Woody Allen's new romantic yarn set in cinema's golden age received mixed reviews from critics as it launched the world's top film festival.
The first red carpet of the festival lit up with some of film's biggest names, as a forecast downpour stayed away long enough for them to saunter up the stairs of the main festival venue.
There were the stars of Allen's Cafe Society - Twilight megastar turned indie darling Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg and a pregnant Blake Lively who exclaimed: "It didn't rain!"
Susan Sarandon - in town for a series of talks on women in the film industry - coolly walked up the carpet in a suit and flat shoes in a pointed dig at Cannes' traditional dress code.
Victoria Beckham adidas daroga shoes uk , Eva Longoria, Jessica Chastain, Justin Timberlake adidas marathon shoes uk , Julianne Moore and Naomi Watts also set cameras flashing before they sat down to enjoy Allen's third film to open the 12-day festival.
Critics, who saw the film earlier, praised the film's beauty and the performances of Stewart and Eisenberg adidas stan smith shoes uk , of The Social Network fame, but complained it lacked depth.
"Watchable as it is, (it) never quite overcomes the sense that it's a lavish diagram working hard to co.
