SAO PAULO: The death toll rose to 13 from the extratropical cyclone that lashed southern Brazil over the weekend with four people still missing, said the country’s civil defence agency on Sunday.
The devastation caused by the storms and floods began Friday, affecting more than 40 towns in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, which borders neighbouring Uruguay and Argentina.
The search operation for those missing is still going on, said the civil defence agency, according to Xinhua.
More than half a million people were left without electricity over the weekend and 4,913 people were displaced, according to the civil defence agency.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pledged federal aid to the affected area. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
