REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MONTEVIDEO -- Some 100,000 residents in Paraguay have been evacuated due to the rising waters just days before Christmas celebrations.

The mayor of Paraguay's capital Asuncion, Mario Ferreiro, on Wednesday described the flooding as a "humanitarian tragedy."

"We are living in times of crisis in Asuncion," said Ferreiro. "It's the worst flooding in the past 20 years. A humanitarian tragedy on a large scale."

The mayor, who just took office on Saturday, said "the situation is critical ... we have 20,000 families living in precarious shelters."

According to the National Emergency Secretariat (SEN), the flooded Paraguay River should begin to ebb between January and February, but to "flood again" in March, warned Ferreiro.

Paraguay's President Horacio Cartes acknowledged the government owed a "large debt" to poor families driven from their low-lying homes, and has pledged to relocate them.

"As long as we don't relocate them to higher areas, the flooding of homes will be continuous," said Cartes.

By Tuesday, the river had risen to 7.61 meters in the capital, surpassing the 7.38 meters record in 2014, registering the worst flooding since 2000.

The highest level the Paraguay River has ever reached was 9.10 meters in 1983.

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