Uruguay floods prompt more than 5,000 people to flee; water, power service cut

Uruguay floods prompt more than 5,000 to evacuate

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Flooding in Uruguay has swamped roads and homes, forced thousands to evacuate and cut power and water service.

Hardest-hit is the central province of Durazno, where the Yi River overflowed its banks.

Durazno’s emergency agency says 3,000 people were evacuated and another 1,500 left home on their own.

Health authorities are working to truck potable water to regions left without service.

In Soriano province, an undetermined number of people have fled the rising Negro River.

And in Rocha, officials released water from behind a dam that reached record levels.

Farm official Anibal Garcia Ricci said Tuesday that several Rocha towns are cut off, and about 170,000 acres (70,000 hectares) of cropland are threatened.