170,000 evacuated by unprecedented floods in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. [View all]

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One of the worst rains and floods in recent decades has left more than 170,000 evacuees in Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, and Uruguay. Authorities remain on alert after the Paraná and Uruguay rivers and a number of tributaries overflowed their banks. Paraguay was the most affected, with 130,000 evacuees.

The effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon - resulting from the interaction between the ocean and atmosphere in the Eastern and Central Pacific equatorial areas - are the most destructive since 1950 and may continue until the first quarter of 2016, according to the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Argentina:

Two people died and 20,000 were evacuated in three provinces of northeastern Argentina, mainly because of flooding of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, according to recent reports from the authorities.

"These floods are on track to being one of the most complicated in history," said Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio during a tour this Saturday of Entre Rios Province. Entre Rios is the most affected province with about 10,500 displaced from their homes. Most are in Concordia, a city of 170,000 on the banks of the Uruguay River which according to authorities is suffering its "worst flooding in 50 years."

The Governor of Entre Rios, Gustavo Bordet, and the Secretary of Human Development of Concordia, Guillermo Echenause, reported Saturday that a state of alert remains in the city - although Uruguay River levels have recently decreased a little. "Right now the situation has stabilized as a result of good weather and this has given us a break," Governor Bordet said, adding that the Uruguay River remains at 15.86 meters (52 feet) - nearly a meter (3 ft) above flood stage.

Presidential Chief of Staff Marcos Peña visited Corrientes Province, where another 2,000 evacuees were registered; there were 1,500 more in neighboring Chaco Province.

Brazil:

The overflowing Uruguay River also affected the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul (southern Brazil), where 1,795 families (9,000 people) were displaced by the storm in recent days.

On Saturday, President Dilma Rousseff flew over the area around Uruguaiana, a city of 125,000 on the banks of the Uruguay River. "We are here because we know that Brazil suffers the El Niño phenomenon with heavy rains in the south and a terrible drought in the northeast," Rousseff said.

Major Rinaldo da Silva Castro of the Regional Civil Defense said that 38 cities in the region were affected by flooding along the rivers Uruguay and Quaraí.

Paraguay:

Heavy El Niño storms also caused disastrous flooding in Paraguay, the country most affected by this disaster. Flooding along the Paraguay River has provoked 130,000 evacuated (out of a population of just 7 million), authorities said. Four people were crushed by falling trees and the capital, Asunción, remains without electricity. Paraguayan President Horacio Cartés declared a state of emergency to release more than $ 3.5 million in care for evacuees.

Uruguay:

Northern Uruguay saw 9,083 evacuees by Saturday, of which 7,185 evacuated voluntarily according to the latest report from the National Emergency System (Sinae).

The most serious flooding is reportedly in the northern departments of Artigas, Paysandú, Rivera, and Salto, and in the central departments of Durazno and Río Negro.

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