Most of the fatalities, which have climbed steadily since December 1, have occurred in Sao Paulo city, where several neighborhoods and roads are underwater and some ramshackle dwellings have collapsed, according to the civil defense service.

Rescuers recovered the body of the latest victim: an 11-year-old who fell into an open drain and was swept away by the powerful current.

Inmet, the national weather service, said accumulated rainfall in the state looks set to surpass a record set in 1947, the state news agency Agencia Brasil reported.

Inmet meteorologists said the El Nino phenomenon -- which warms surface waters in the Pacific Ocean and is linked to rainfall across the region -- was to blame.

The near-constant precipitation has filled to capacity two of Sao Paulo's six dams, requiring the release of millions of liters (gallons) of water.

The two big rivers cutting through Sao Paulo, the Pinheiros and the Tiete, have broken their banks in parts, blocking adjacent freeways.

The Sao Paulo deaths added to scores of others in the neighboring state of Rio de Janeiro in late December and early January, including 28 killed on New Year's Day when a landslide hit a luxury beachside hotel.

South America's biggest city, greater Sao Paulo is home to 20 million people, accounting for nearly half of the 42 million who live in the entire state.

earlier related report
Peru flood death toll rises to 20
Lima (AFP) Jan 30, 2010 - Heavy flooding in southern Peru, which trapped thousands of tourists visiting the Inca city of Machu Picchu, has killed 20 and left at least five missing, Peru's Civil Defense force said Saturday.

Thousands of others have been affected by heavy rains, the worst to hit the country in five years.

In the Cusco region, the downpours prompted landslides that trapped 3,500 visitors in and around the picturesque mountaintop tourist site of Machu Picchu.

Peruvian authorities used 12 helicopters and 40 pilots over four days to evacuate all the travelers trapped near the site, Latin America's top tourist destination.

The evacuation of all visitors ended late Friday.

"The good news is that Machu Picchu, along with all the ancient sites, is intact," said Carlos Millas, president of the chamber of commerce in Cusco, a region heavily dependent on the income from visiting tourists.

But the railway that ferries 90 percent of the 1,000 people that visit Machu Picchu each day to the site was damaged in the floods, and Peru Rail warned that repairs could take up to two months.

The rains are forecast to continue through Tuesday, with some heavy downpours predicted for the south, according to Peru's weather service.

Neighboring Bolivia has also been hit by heavy rains that prompted President Evo Morales to declare a national emergency.

At least 10 people were killed and some 22,000 were left homeless by storms, Bolivian authorities said Friday.

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