00:00 Nearly two dozen people have died in a cyclone that's battered southern Brazil, authorities
00:06 said on Tuesday.
00:08 Drone footage over the hardest-hit state Rio Grande do Sul showed rivers, crops and city
00:13 streets inundated with floodwaters.
00:15 And dozens of homes had their roofs damaged by a hailstorm.
00:20 Governor Eduardo Leite says the loss was the worst his state has seen.
00:24 "Unfortunately, I received information that 15 bodies were located in the city of Mucum.
00:32 This causes immense pain and raises the number of deaths from six to 21.
00:36 We are already considering the situation, the one with the highest number of deaths
00:40 related to a climate event, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul."
00:45 An additional victim was confirmed in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina.
00:50 Hundreds across the region have packed up their belongings in an effort to escape the
00:54 rising waters.
00:55 "We saw it was going to flood everything since dawn.
00:59 We were already putting things on top of the table, on top of the wood stove, but it didn't
01:03 help."
01:04 "I feel devastated.
01:06 I lost everything.
01:07 There are many people who lost much more, but here at home I have nothing left."
01:13 Brazil's federal government has announced some measures to respond to the disaster.
01:17 And President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised his government would do whatever is necessary
01:23 to "save people from these problems."
01:26 With rescue efforts underway, hundreds in the state are still without contact.
01:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]
