MONTEVIDEO, March 21 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Uruguay's southern department of Florida after heavy rains caused floods, local authorities said Thursday.

Guillermo Lopez, governor of the department, said that the Santa Lucia Chico River in the department's namesake capital city Florida has surpassed its latest record high by 1.2 meters after heavy rains on Wednesday night, reaching places it had never been before.

The flooding has caused "historic devastation," inundating hundreds of homes and forcing traffic disruption to the Piedra Alta Bridge, the entrance to the Florida city, which had never happened before, the governor told local media.

The city of Florida, with a population of 33,000, has been left without access to drinking water due to the impact of the flooding on the water treatment plant. Food and shelter have been provided to the affected people.

The Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology on Wednesday issued a red alert for severe storms in several regions of the South American country, including the Department of Florida. Enditem

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