A massive storm in Brazil has claimed the lives of at least 100 people and damaged nearly 1,00,000 homes. Brazil has been reeling under an intense spell of rainfall that has not stopped for a week.
Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state, is completely flooded.
The National Confederation of Municipalities reported on Wednesday that around 1.45 million people have been affected, and some 200,000 have been forced to evacuate their homes due to overflowing rivers and floods in the state, according to Xinhua news agency.
According to the Confederation, based on data from the Civil Defense Agency, some 99,800 residences of all types have sustained either total or partial damage since the state's worst weather-related disaster hit on April 29.
Due to the storms, 414 out of 497 towns in the state have declared emergencies. The state is a top producer of agricultural and livestock products and shares borders with Argentina and Uruguay.
The Confederation estimates the total economic losses resulting from the disaster to be around 4.6 billion reals (approximately $904 million). This amount takes into account damages incurred by housing, public infrastructure, agriculture, livestock, industry, commerce, and services.
Rio Grande do Sul saw five months of rain in just one week, sparking unprecedented flooding.