At least 10 people have died in floods caused by torrential rains in Brazil’s south, authorities said Wednesday, as rescuers searched for nearly two dozen individuals reported missing.
Deluges in the state of Rio Grande do Sul have displaced some 3,300 people in more than 100 municipalities, many of whom have been moved to shelters.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced he would visit the area, which governor Eduardo Leite said was dealing with “the worst disaster in the history of our state.”
Leite said work was continuing to locate the missing even as more heavy rains were forecast.
And he appealed for help in the form of people “trained for situations of chaos and war.”
Persistent rains have destroyed bridges and blocked roads, leaving several communities in the state completely cut off.
“We lost everything, everything, all the food, everything we had in the house,” Adriana Salete Gas of the city of Santa Cruz do Sul told local media.
