RIO DE JANEIRO, May 20 (RIA Novosti) - At least 45 people have died and more than 370,000 have been made homeless by floods in northern Brazil, the National Civil Defense Secretariat said.
The region has been battered by heavy rains for the past two months, affecting 407 municipalities in 13 states. A state of emergency has been introduced in 57 municipalities.
The northwestern state of Amazonas has been the worst hit by the floods, with the water level in the Rio Negro river rising well above the critical level.
At least 19 districts in the state's capital of Manaus have been flooded. The northeastern states of Ceara and Maranhao are also severely affected.
The Brazilian government has sent about 129,000 sets of food packages and more than a million sets of clothes and bed sheets to crisis areas.
