Rio de Janeiro, Sep 13 (EFE) Heavy rains in southern Brazil over the last few days have killed two people and forced some 19,000 people to abandon their homes, officials said.

In the state of Santa Catarina, the hardest hit by the storm, a 60-year-old woman was drowned on a highway flooded by the Ararangua River near the town of Praia Grande, according to the latest bulletin from regional officials.

In the neighboring state of Rio Grande do Sul, a man of 45 died Saturday when the Mel River overflowed its banks in the municipality of Irai and swept his car away.

The recent rains have increased the number of homeless people in Santa Catarina to some 19,000, including those hit by a wind storm that caused the deaths of four people last Monday in the town of Guaraciaba on the Argentine border.

During the last few hours, the level of several rivers has risen considerably and some have overflowed their banks, making a number of national and regional highways impassable, while isolating various towns in the southern part of the state.