ASUNCION: Flooding dampened Christmas eve celebrations in parts of Latin America, leaving five people dead and driving almost 150,000 from their homes in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.

Some 130,000 people have been forced from their homes across Paraguay, officials said, as President Horacio Cartes declared a state of emergency to free up more than $3.5 million in disaster funds.

Three people traveling Paraguay’s international Route 2, which links Asuncion and Foz de Iguazu in Brazil were killed when a tree fell on their vehicle before dawn.

Another woman traveling by motorcycle in Asuncion was killed by a falling tree overnight, official sources told AFP.

The National Emergency Secretariat (SEN) reported a dozen other similar incidents in the capital. The agency’s head of operations, David Arellano, said rescue and evacuation operations were underway for dozens of families in the face of floodwaters from the Paraguay River.

Around the capital Asuncion 125,000 homes were without power and 17 power distribution centers knocked out across the country.