Floods in southern Brazil kill 55, force 70000 from homes
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.
Joao Guilherme, a 23-year-old salesman, found his way to safety in the state capital -- but without his cell phone.
"I have no communication with anybody, I'm very shaken," he said.
The speed of the rising waters unnerved Greta Bittencourt, 32, a professional poker player.
"It's terrifying because we saw the water rise in an absurd way, it rose at a very high speed," Bittencourt said.
- 'Going to be much worse' -
With waters starting to overtop a dike along another local river, the Gravatai, Mayor Sebastiao Melo issued a stern warning on social media platform X, saying, "Communities must leave!"
He urged people to ration water, after four of the city's six treatment plants had to be closed.
In a live transmission on Instagram, Governor Leite said the situation was "absolutely unprecedented," the worst in the history of the state, home to agroindustrial production of soy, rice, wheat and corn.
Residential areas were underwater as far as the eye could see, with roads destroyed and bridges swept away by powerful currents.
Rescuers faced a colossal task, with entire towns inaccessible.
At least 300 municipalities have suffered storm damage in Rio Grande do Sul since Monday, according to local officials.
- 'Disastrous cocktail' -
Roughly a third of the displaced have been brought to shelters set up in sports centers, schools and other facilities.
The rains also affected the southern state of Santa Catarina, where one man died Friday when his car was swept away by raging floodwaters in the municipality of Ipira.
Lula, who visited the region Thursday, blamed the disaster on climate change.
The devastating storms were the result of a "disastrous cocktail" of global warming and the El Nino weather phenomenon, climatologist Francisco Eliseu Aquino told AFP on Friday.
