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STORY: Nearly two dozen people have died in a cyclone that battered southern Brazil, authorities said on Tuesday.

Drone footage over the hardest hit state, Rio Grande do Sul, showed rivers, crops and city streets inundated with floodwaters-- and dozens of homes had their roofs damaged by a hailstorm.

Governor Eduardo Leite says the loss was the worst his state has seen:

“Unfortunately, I received information that 15 bodies were located in the city of Mucum. This causes immense pain and raises the number of deaths from 6 to 21. We are already considering the situation the one with the highest number of deaths related to a climate event in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.”

An additional victim was confirmed in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina.

Hundreds across the region have packed up their belongings in an effort to escape the rising waters.

[Luana da Luz / Passo Fundo resident]

“We saw it was going to flood everything since dawn. We were already putting things on top of the table, on top of the wood stove, but it didn’t help."

[Dirce Reginatto / Nova Bassano resident]

“I feel devastated, I lost everything. There are many people who lost much more, but here at home, I have nothing left."

Brazil's federal government has announced some measures to respond to the disaster, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised his government would do whatever is necessary to "save people from these problems."

With rescue efforts underway, hundreds in the state are still without contact.