Brazil's Manaus flooded by rising Amazon rivers

Across the Brazilian state of Amazonas, more than 400-thousand people have been affected by flooding.

Heavy rains in the Amazon rainforest have caused rivers to rise to near record levels.

The streets of the state capital Manaus were under water on Monday - a city that has already seen so much devastation this year from the global health crisis.

Now, the homes of almost 5,000 families are in danger.

Further up the Amazon River, small riverside towns like Anama have been totally submerged.

One local resident attempted to salvage his belongings from his wooden home.

He said he had nowhere to keep his things.

He's just one of thousands of people who've been forced to evacuate.

Ezi Marques is the civil defence coordinator:

"The city is 100% flooded, we are expecting a record flooding, more than in 2015 which was the biggest one here. This is because of the increase in water level and monitoring (changes), it will be a record flooding."

Environmental researchers say climate change has led to extreme weather patterns, with some years, like this one, seeing particularly heavy rains and others seeing very dry weather.

The deforestation of the Amazon may also contribute to long-term changes but does not impact rainfall year to year, researchers say.

Rainforest destruction has surged since Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019.