A cyclone has devastated southern Brazil, with flooding in several cities leaving dozens of people dead and displacing hundreds more.
Authorities said on Wednesday the death toll had risen to at least 27, from 21 a day earlier. Twenty-six of the victims were in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, while the other fatality was reported in the neighbouring state of Santa Catarina.
Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite said that about 60 cities in the state were affected by the storm.
“Since dawn, we saw that [the water] was going to flood [our house], and we were putting things on top of the table, on top of the wood stove, but it didn’t help,” Luana Da Luz, a resident of the town of Passo Fundo, told the Reuters news agency.
Estimates for the number of people forced from their homes vary. The Associated Press estimates 1,650 have been displaced, while the news agency AFP cited a higher statistic: 3,700.
This week’s cyclone is the latest in a string of extreme weather events to heap misery on Brazil, underscoring the risks of storms driven to greater frequency and intensity by climate change.
