<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Raging floods and mudslides have killed at least 55 people in southern Brazil and forced nearly 70,000 to flee their homes, the country's civil defense agency said on Saturday.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least 74 people were injured and another 67 missing from the catastrophic flooding, civil defense said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The toll did not include two people who died in an explosion at a flooded gas station in Porto Alegre, witnessed by an AFP journalist, where rescue crews were attempting to refuel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fast-rising water levels in the state of Rio Grande do Sul were straining&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;">dams and particularly threatening economically important Porto Alegre, a city of 1.4 million.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Guaiba River, which flows through the city, is at a historic high of 5.04 meters (16.5 feet), well above the 4.76 meters that had stood as a record since devastating 1941 floods.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Authorities scrambled to evacuate swamped neighborhoods as rescue workers used four-wheel-drive vehicles -- and even jet skis -- to maneuver through waist-deep water in search of the stranded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to the 69,200 residents forced from their homes, civil defense also said more than a million people lacked access to potable water amid the flooding, describing damage as incalculable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite said his state -- normally one of Brazil's most prosperous -- would need a "Marshall Plan" of heavy investment to rebuild after the catastrophe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In many places, long lines formed as people tried to board buses, although bus services to and from the city center were canceled.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Porto Alegre international airport suspended all flights on Friday for an undetermined period.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva posted a video of a helicopter depositing a soldier atop a house, where he used a brick to pound a hole in the roof and rescue a baby wrapped in a blanket.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Joao Guilherme, a 23-year-old salesman, found his way to safety in the state capital -- but without his cell phone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I have no communication with anybody, I'm very shaken," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The speed of the rising waters unnerved Greta Bittencourt, 32, a professional poker player.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's terrifying because we saw the water rise in an absurd way, it rose at a very high speed," Bittencourt said.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Going to be much worse' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With waters starting to overtop a dike along another local river, the&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gravatai, Mayor Sebastiao Melo issued a stern warning on social media&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;">platform X, saying, "Communities must leave!"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He urged people to ration water, after four of the city's six treatment&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;">plants had to be closed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a live transmission on Instagram, Governor Leite said the situation was&nbsp; "absolutely unprecedented," the worst in the history of the state, home to&nbsp; agroindustrial production of soy, rice, wheat and corn.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Residential areas were underwater as far as the eye could see, with roads destroyed and bridges swept away by powerful currents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rescuers faced a colossal task, with entire towns inaccessible, reports AFP&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">At least 300 municipalities have suffered storm damage in Rio Grande do Sul&nbsp; since Monday, according to local officials.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>