Death toll rises to 90 in Brazil floods

Sao Paulo, May 8 (IANS) Five more people were killed by storms ravaging south Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 90, the state's civil defence agency has said.

In the state bordering Uruguay and Argentina, record rainfall, flooding and mudslides have left 132 people missing and 361 injured and forced over 200,000 residents to evacuate their homes over the past eight days, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the state's civil defence agency, over 1.4 million people in 388 of the state's 497 towns, including the capital city Porto Alegre, have been affected by the disaster.

More than 85 per cent of the city's population has lost access to potable water, leading authorities to ration the supply.

Classes have been suspended statewide, as 790 schools were affected by flooding, 388 sustained damage and another 52 are serving to shelter those evacuated.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has visited the disaster sites and pledged federal aid.

A series of climatic phenomena have caused rain-bearing clouds to gather and remain over half of the state, which was hit by nine extratropical cyclones in 2023.

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