Death toll from south Brazil's extended extreme weather hits 171

SAO PAULO -- A total of 171 people have died from south Brazil's worst climate disaster on record in the Rio Grande do Sul state, the state's civil defense agency said Saturday.

Cases of leptospirosis are also on the rise, it said.

Since April 29, floods caused by record rains and rising rivers have affected 2.39 million people with 43 missing and 617,900 having been evacuated from their destroyed or flooded homes, according to the agency.

The affected cities have been relieved in the past week thanks to the dry weather that allowed rescue and reconstruction as well as the beginning of subsidy payments to the affected designated by the government.

The climate tragedy has affected 475 of the 497 municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul, an important agricultural hub in Brazil and a top producer of rice in Latin America.