Death toll from south Brazil's extended extreme weather hits 171

SAO PAULO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- A total of 171 people have died from south Brazil's worst climate disaster on record in the Rio Grande do Sul state, the state's civil defense agency said Saturday.

Cases of leptospirosis are also on the rise, it said.

Since April 29, floods caused by record rains and rising rivers have affected 2.39 million people with 43 missing and 617,900 having been evacuated from their