(Adds quote from Paraguay Emergencies office)
By Mariel Cristaldo and Sarah Marsh
ASUNCION/BUENOS AIRES Dec 26 More than 100,000
people have had to evacuate from their homes in the bordering
areas of Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina due to severe
flooding in the wake of heavy summer rains brought on by El
Niño, authorities said on Saturday.
In the worse affected country, Paraguay, around 90,000
people in the area around the capital city of Asuncion have been
evacuated, the municipal Emergencies Office said. Many are poor
families living in precarious housing along the banks of the
River Paraguay.
The Paraguayan government has declared a state of emergency
in Asuncion and seven regions of the country to free up funds to
help those affected. Several people have been killed by trees
falling in the storms that caused the flooding, local media
reported. There was no official death toll yet.
In Alberdi, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of
Asuncion, the government recommended that several thousand more
people living along the banks of the River Paraguay evacuate.
"(The flooding) was directly influenced by the El Niño
phenomenon which has intensified the frequency and intensity of
rains," the national Emergencies Office said.
This year's "El Nino," which sparks global climate extremes,
is the worst in more than 15 years, the U.N. weather agency, the
World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said last month.
"Severe droughts and devastating flooding being experienced
throughout the tropics and sub-tropical zones bear the hallmarks
of this El Nino, which is the strongest in more than 15 years,"
WMO chief Michel Jarraud said in a statement.
Officials at Paraguay's Emergencies Office said the river
might rise even more in the coming days, stabilizing and falling
back towards normal levels from January onwards.
BAD INFRASTRUCTURE
In northern Argentina, around 20,000 people have also had to
abandon their homes, the government said on Saturday.
"We are going to have a few complicated months, the
consequences will be serious," said Ricardo Colombi, the
governor of the Corrientes region, after flying over the worst
affected areas with national Cabinet Chief Marcos Pena.
Pena said national government aid was already on its way and
the new president, Mauricio Macri, who took office earlier this
month, intended to make improving infrastructure a priority so
that such flooding did not occur again.
"Argentina has a very big lack of infrastructure," he said.
Macri will visit the flooded areas on Sunday.
In Uruguay, more than 9,000 people have had to flee their
homes, according to the national Emergencies Office, which added
that it expected water levels to remain at their current level
for several days before subsiding.
At least four people have died in Argentina and Uruguay due
to the storms and floods, according to local media reports. One
was reported to have drowned while another was electrocuted by a
fallen power cable.
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff also flew over the flooded
areas on the border with Argentina and Uruguay on Saturday
morning. Rio Grande do Sul state Civil Defense said 1,795 people
were left homeless there after 38 towns were affected by heavy
rains.
(Additional reporting by Matias Larramendi in Montevideo and
Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by
Sandra Maler)