Three people remain missing and 59,900 families across the South American nation were affected, Bolivian civil defense authorities said in a statement.

    Among Bolivia's nine provinces, which were all hit by the flooding, Cochabamba, Beni, Santa Cruz, Potosi, La Paz and Chuquisaca have suffered the most serious damage, said the statement.

    Floods have also destroyed 44,100 hectares of crops and 108 houses, it added.

    Last Tuesday, the Bolivian government formally declared a "state of national disaster" due to the flooding.

    Since last November, Bolivia has suffered the secondary effects of La Nina, a large pool of unusually cold water in the equatorial Pacific that develops every few years and influences global weather.

    The weather phenomenon is the climatic opposite of El Nino, a warming of the Pacific, and both have been associated with extreme weather around the globe.    (Feb.19)

Editor: Xu Hui