Floods caused by torrential rains have forced more than 3,000 people to flee their homes in the Peruvian section of Amazon, an official said Monday.

Col. Jorge Velasquez of the Civil Defense Institute said that around 690 families have been affected in the remote region of San Martin, 1,400 km northeast of Lima.

The flooding of the Huallaga River has destroyed hundreds of homes and about 3,000 hectares of crops, and thousands of people now have to sleep in tents along highways, waiting for humanitarian aid, said Velasquez.

Relief is hard as parts of the highways are flooded, he said.

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has canceled his trip to Costa Rica for a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Endi