Ammon News - The death toll from heavy rains in southern Brazil rose to 36, local authorities said on Wednesday, as a tropical cyclone battered and soaked the region, flooding homes and swelling rivers.

Video obtained by Reuters showed rising water flooding streets and rivers and submerging houses in the small town of Mucum, in Rio Grande do Sul, the country's southernmost state. Nearby cities such as Lajeado and Roca Sales were also hit severely.

Dominguez Fontana, a 74-year-old sawmill worker who escaped the Mucum flooding, said nothing could be salvaged.

"When the water was coming I escaped to the highway," he explained. "You have to escape. If you stay there you die."

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he had spoken to Rio Grande do Sul Gov. Eduardo Leite to offer the federal government's full support to help the state "face this crisis."

Lula sent two ministers to the state to oversee search and rescue efforts and said Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin would also be on standby to travel there.

CBC