More than 150,000 people from all over Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay were displaced after a heavy flood hit most parts of South America caused by El Niño. Eight victims have been reported dead.
Paraguay was affected the most with over 130,000 people evacuated and four casualties. Residents of Alberdi city evacuated immediately as the walls seemed to almost collapse because of the flooding, according to CNN.
#ElNiño flooding hits Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. https://t.co/FIP98JKdfI pic.twitter.com/e6buSvhvHW
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 28, 2015
Argentina had 20,000 evacuees, 10,000 of them from Concordia City where there were two casualties. Another two victims were found in the Bolivian Amazon, according to Al Jazeera. In Brazil, 38 cities were affected by the flood. 9,000 people were affected in Uruguay.
Torrential rains, flooding kill at least 10 in South America https://t.co/DgLxDweUt7 pic.twitter.com/v1ETMgVhrR — ST Foreign Desk (@STForeignDesk) December 28, 2015
Julian Baez, Paraguay's weather service director, said his country was devastated by the heavy flooding. "The Paraguay River has swollen almost to eight meters. Not even the most dramatic forecasts called for that in December," Baez said, according to the AFP.
"(The flooding) was directly influenced by the El Nino phenomenon which has intensified the frequency and intensity of rains," the national emergency of Paraguay stated, according to BBC.
The present situation in South America is reportedly the worst flood in 50 years.
