Couple and dog rescued from Brazil flood that's killed 37 people and left 74 missing

This is the moment the military rescued a couple and their pet dog after they got stuck in their car on a flooded street in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. 

Footage released by the Military Brigade showed a man and a woman with their pooch on top of their vehicle covered with tree branches and debris on Friday morning. 

The soldier could be see strapping a harness to the woman in order to lift her up to the helicopter. 

The military said the woman had limited mobility and was treated for hypothermia.

A service member of Brazil's Military Brigade rescued a couple and their pet dog after they were found stranded on top of their car surrounded by tree branches and debris in Bom Retiro do Sul, a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil

A drone view shows an area affected by the floods in Encantado, a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul on Friday. At least 37 people have been confirmed dead and 74 were still missing 

Air Force troops escort a woman after the was rescued from a flooded neighborhood in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on Thursday

At least 37 people have been confirmed dead, 74 were missing and 74 had been treated for injuries as of Friday afternoon, according to the Civil Defense.

The agency said that 235 of the 496 cities in the southernmost state of Brazil have been severely impacted by rain since Monday.

The bad weather has forced 7,165 people to abandon their homes and seek refuge in shelters while 17,087 are homeless. 

The storm has also caused landslides and damages to homes, roads and bridges, including one that was swept away by a flooded river. 

It triggered the partial collapse of a dam structure at a small hydroelectric power plant in the city of Cotiporã.

A couple is rescued from their flooded home in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost Brazilian state that since Monday has been slammed with heavy rain that has forced 7,165 people to abandon their homes and seek refuge in shelters while 17,087 are homeless

A man wades in a flooded street in the Rio Grande do Sul municipality of Porto Alegre on Friday

Residents are seen with their pet dogs after they were rescued from their homes in Porto Alegre, Brazil on Friday

A second dam in the city of Bento Goncalves is also at risk of collapsing, authorities said, ordering people who live nearby to evacuate. Two other dams in the municipalities of Candela and São Martinho da Serra are could also collapse at any moment.

The state is at a geographical meeting point between tropical and polar atmospheres, which has created a weather pattern with periods of intense rains and others of drought.

Local scientists believe the pattern has been intensifying due to climate change.

Heavy rains had already hit Rio Grande do Sul last September, as an extratropical cyclone caused floods that killed more than 50 people.

That came after more than two years of a persistent drought due to the La Nina phenomenon, with only scarce showers.

'It's not just another critical situation; it's probably the most critical case the state has ever recorded,' Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite said in a live broadcast on social media on Thursday.

He added that the death toll will likely climb as authorities have not been able to access certain locations.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva traveled to the state on Thursday to visit affected locations and discuss rescue efforts with the governor.