An extratropical cyclone in southern Brazil has caused floods in several cities, killing at least 31 people and leaving more than 1,600 homeless.
More than 60 cities have been battered by the storm since Monday night, and Rio Grande do Sul’s governor, Eduardo Leite, said the death toll was the state’s highest due to a climate event.
Rescue efforts expanded farther west on Wednesday with helicopters headed to the Rio Pardo Valley. Search and rescue teams had been focusing around the Taquari Valley, about 150km (31 miles) north-west of the state capital Porto Alegre, where most of the victims and damage were recorded.
The floods in Rio Grande do Sul were the latest in a series of such disasters to have recently struck Brazil, where more than 50 people were killed in São Paulo state earlier this year after extensive downpours caused landslides and flooding.
More heavy rains were expected to hit the state’s center-south region, but possibly sparing worst-hit areas.
Credit: theguardian.com
