If she reaches the Senate, Ms. Letlow would replace Senator Bill Cassidy and become the first G.O.P. woman to represent Louisiana in the chamber.

A medical team set out from the capital to rescue people in the hardest-hit part of the disaster zone, La Guaira. They found silence in the ruins instead.

The outpouring of volunteer aid after Venezuela’s earthquakes clogged the only road into the disaster zone, delaying rescue crews.