Photos: 13 dead, thousands displaced after cyclone hits Brazil

At least 13 people have been killed and thousands forced from their homes after a cyclone tore through southern Brazil.

Torrential rain and strong winds on Thursday and Friday caused damage in dozens of towns in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, including its capital Porto Alegre, the latest in a string of weather-related disasters to hit South America’s biggest country.

A four-month-old baby was among those dead, according to local media, which broadcast footage of a car being swept into a cemetery by powerful winds.

“The water came up to our waist inside the house. Thank God, the firemen arrived quickly and got us out on boats. It seemed like a nightmare,” a woman, who did not give her name, told the newspaper Estadao in the town of Sao Leopoldo.

Nearly 5,000 people were left with damaged houses and on Sunday about 84,000 people were without power.

In Sao Leopoldo, about half-an-hour drive from Porto Alegre, 246mm (9.7 inches) of rain fell in 18 hours, “a level never seen before in the history” of the city of 240,000 inhabitants, stressed Porto Alegre Mayor Ary Jose Vanazzi.

On Sunday, streets in the towns of Novo Hamburgo, Lindolfo Collor and Sao Leopoldo were still flooded.

As the rain stopped, soldiers were able to carry out rescue operations in Novo Hamburgo.

Further rainfall and cold temperatures are expected in the middle of next week, however, potentially further exacerbating the situation for those already affected.

Brazil has been hit by a series of deadly weather disasters in recent years, which experts say are being made worse by climate change.

At least 65 people died in February when torrential rain triggered floods and landslides in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo.