Brasília, 2/12/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Yesterday president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with ministers Antônio Palocci (Finance), José Dirceu (Chief of Staff - Casa Civil), Ciro Gomes (National Integration), Anderson Adauto (Transportation), Olívio Dutra (Cities) and Guido Mantega (Planning) to discuss government measures for dealing with flooding that has been caused by continued rains throughout most of the country.

According to minister Gomes, 648 municipalities have been affected by flooding. Up to now a total of 119 people have died and 76,338 have been left homeless. Over 8,000 homes have been destroyed. (AB)