Sao Paulo:
At least 100 people have been killed and nearly 100,000 homes destroyed or significantly damaged by more than a week of record rains and flooding in southern Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state, local authorities said.
The National Confederation of Municipalities said in an update on Wednesday that overflowing rivers and floods in the state have affected about 1.45 million people and forced about 200,000 residents to flee their homes, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the confederation, about 99,800 homes of all types have suffered full or partial damage since the state's worst weather-related disaster on April 29, according to Civil Defense Agency data.
As many as 414 of the 497 towns in the state, a leading agricultural and livestock producer that borders Argentina and Uruguay, have suffered from the storms and declared a state of emergency.
The confederation estimates economic losses at 4.6 billion reals (about $904 million), taking into account damage to housing and public infrastructure, as well as agriculture, livestock, industry, trade and services.
In just one week, Rio Grande do Sul saw five months of rain, leading to unprecedented flooding.
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