Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited the southern region of the country on Thursday, where floods and mudslides caused by heavy rains have killed 29 people and the death toll is expected to rise.
Authorities in Rio Grande do Sul state have declared a state of emergency as rescuers continue to search through the rubble of collapsed homes, bridges and roads for dozens of people reported missing.
Damage caused by the storm has affected nearly 150 cities in the state, leaving at least a dozen people injured and nearly 10,000 people displaced.
Governor Eduardo Leyte said Rio Grande do Sul was dealing with “the worst disaster in history.”
During a live broadcast, he updated the death toll to 29 from 13 earlier Thursday, and the number of missing from 21 to 60.
Video | “It rains for a month in 24 hours” in Rio, Brazil: Cars float and roads sink in floods
“The deepest pain in my heart, I know it’s going to be even more painful,” the governor said.
Lula, who blamed climate change for the floods, arrived in the town of Santa María in the morning with a delegation of ministers and held a working meeting with Leite and other officials to coordinate relief efforts, the government said.
The president pledged that “there will be no shortage of human or material resources” to “minimize the pain this extreme event… inflicts on the state.”
He added that the federal government “will be 100 percent at the mercy of” state officials.
Central authorities have sent 12 aircraft, 45 vehicles, 12 boats and 626 soldiers to help clear roads, distribute food, water and mattresses and set up shelters, a press statement said.
As rains continue, forecasts warn that water levels in the state’s main Guayba river will reach three meters (9.8 feet) by Thursday and four meters the next day, with some areas already overflowing.
-“Totally destroyed”-
Entire communities in Rio Grande do Sul have been completely cut off from the outside world as persistent rains destroyed bridges and blocked roads, leaving towns without even phone or internet service.
Rescue workers and soldiers have been working to free families trapped in their homes, many of whom were trapped on rooftops to escape rising floodwaters.
“I’ve never seen anything like this… everything is underwater,” said Raul Metzel, 52, a machine operator in Capel de Santana.
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Authorities urged people to avoid areas along national highways due to the risk of mudslides and urged people living near rivers or on hillsides to evacuate.
Hundreds of thousands have been left without access to electricity and drinking water, and classes have been suspended across the state.
On Wednesday, state Lieutenant Governor Gabriel Souza said the damage was estimated at $20 million.
Sinimbu mayor Sandra Backes said the situation in her town was “a nightmare”.
“Xiningbu is like a war zone, completely destroyed… all the shops, businesses, supermarkets – everything is destroyed,” she said in a video posted on Instagram.
Elsewhere, in Santa Cruz del Sur, lifeguards used boats to ferry residents, many of them children, to safety.
Rivers in the area were already swollen from previous storms.
Last September, a hurricane hit the state, killing at least 31 people.
South America’s largest country has been hit by a series of extreme weather events recently, which experts say are more likely to occur as a result of climate change.
The flooding comes as a cold front hits the south and southeast following a wave of intense heat.