Flood in Brazil

Torrential rain in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, has caused flooding which has led to two deaths and an estimated 20,000 people evacuated.

Rio Grande do Sul is Brazil's most southern state, and borders Uruguay and Argentina. A state of emergency was declared in the state on 4 July 2014, following over a week of rain which began on 26 June. So far 115 towns and cities have been affected by the flooding across the state, which includes the state capital, Porto Allegre.

It is believed that the weather has been caused by the El Niño effect, which warms the Pacific Ocean and usually results in hot and wet summers for South America.

This latest flood follows on from another batch of torrential rain which affected southern Brazil, and particularly Rio Grande do Sul's nearby states of Santa Catarina and Paraná, in early June. The prolonged rainfall is expected to harm the area's agricultural production, due to saturated ground conditions. The Institute of Meteorology has reported that this was the wettest winter Brazil has experienced since 1983.