21.   A sea of thick mud stretches as far as I can see on all sides, and sucks me in up to my thighs.

22.   A year ago that same stream turned into a gushing torrent of thick mud, tree trunks, and immense boulders that destroyed everything in its path.

23.   As the rains let up, hundreds of rescue workers with hoes and shovels looked for survivors in the thick red mud.

24.   But as winds and rains abated, and floodwaters receded from higher ground, men and women shoveled buckets of thick brown mud from homes.

25.   Buses driving delegates and media around the summit venue have churned up patches of its manicured lawns, transforming them into pools of thick mud.

26.   But farther down the road, traffic is blocked by thick mud and shattered bridges.

27.   Early Friday, three surges of rock and thick mud crashed down through the steep valley.

28.   Emergency crews from the Red Cross and the civil defense forces were using heavy machinery and pumps to remove the thick mud and water spread over the site.

29.   Emergency crews from the Red Cross and the civil defense forces used heavy machinery to remove thick mud spread over the site.

30.   Emergency crews from the Red Cross and the civil defense forces were using heavy machinery to remove the thick mud spread over the site.