Pope asks for prayers for victims of extreme weather in U.S., South America

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - MARCH 15: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL OR MERCHANDISING USAGE - BOOKS OUT, BROADCAST OUT, All image rights and copyrights reserved to the photographic Service of L'Osservatore Romano). IMAGE IS NOT LICENSED FOR USAGE BEYOND 60 DAYS OF CREATE DATE. Pope Francis meets with the full College of Cardinals, electors and non-electors in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, on March 15, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. The inauguration mass of Pope Francis, the first ever Latin American Pontiff, will be held on March 19, 2013 in Vatican City. The Pope met with cardinals earlier on his second day as Pontif. (Photo by Servizio Fotografico L'Osservatore Romano via Getty Images) (2013 L'Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City (AP) – Pope Francis has asked people to pray for victims of recent storms, flooding and other bad weather in the United States, Great Britain and South America.

During his public audience Wednesday in St. Peter's Square, Francis told the faithful the storms were, "unfortunately, causing victims, many evacuees and enormous damage."

He prayed that God grant comfort to those affected and that "brotherly solidarity help them in their need."

Flooding in South America forced tens of thousands of people to flee homes, including in the pope's native Argentina. Neighboring Paraguay was hard hit.

Tornadoes in Texas last week were blamed for at least 11 deaths, and fears of flooding this week in the U.S. Midwest caused widespread evacuations.

In northern England, flooding forced many people out of their homes.

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