Bolivia has asked for international assistance following torrential rains and flooding across the country, the United Nations said on Monday. 
Nearly 600 houses have been damaged, roads blocked, small bridges wrecked, some rural communities isolated and tens of thousands of acres (hectares) of crops destroyed, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. 

Some 17,500 of Bolivia's 9 million inhabitants have been affected by the storms, which are likely to continue over the coming weeks of Bolivia's rainy season, the U.N. office said. 

Local government agencies, working with the World Food Program, are evacuating vulnerable groups in the hardest hit areas and rushing in emergency food supplies where needed, it said. Relief group World Vision is also helping several communities. 

The Bolivian government, which has declared a nationwide state of emergency, has not provided official data but said on Friday that rainfall was 10 percent above average levels for this time of year. 

The storms caused the greatest damage in the provinces of La Paz, Santa Cruz and Beni, where soy fields have been flooded and highways washed out. 
A U.N. disaster management team is seeking to coordinate the relief response and shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, medicines, water and disinfection supplies are among the items likely to be needed, the U.N. office said.