Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil - May 19, 2024

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According to the death toll released on Sunday, Brazilian authorities raised to 158 the number of people killed in the severe floods that have been ravaging the southern region of the country for the past two weeks.

Civil Defence explained that rescue teams had identified two bodies in the last 24 hours in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the hardest hit by the climate disaster, which left an unprecedented trail of destruction in the area.

All of the dead were recorded in the aforementioned state, with the exception of one, who was found in Santa Catarina, also affected by the storm, although to a lesser extent. The number of missing persons thus fell to 88, six less than on Saturday.

Floods, torrential rains and landslides wreaked havoc in 463 of the 497 municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul, an important agricultural and industrial region with a population of 11.3 million, 6 % of the country's total.

The disaster affected 2.3 million people in this region bordering Uruguay and Argentina, some 620,000 of whom had to leave their homes and go to temporary shelters or the homes of relatives or friends.

With images in association with Leonardo Koenich Botelho.

SHOTLIST:
1. Various from Porto Alegre.