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Rescue efforts are being stepped up in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, where floods have left 65 people dead and some 43,000 homeless.
The federal government and other states are sending aid, including helicopters to reach stranded residents.
The heavy rainfall of recent days also caused landslides that have destroyed homes and blocked roads in the region.
Eight towns have been cut off by the flood waters while more than 160,000 people are without electricity.
Heavy rains have affected large parts of southern Brazil but Santa Catarina has borne the brunt of the bad weather.
Eight towns have been completely cut off, while transport throughout the state has been paralyzed with roads blocked by mud and water.
Emergency workers have been using helicopters and boats to try to reach those left stranded.
Civil defense officials said that, of the people known to have died, 13 were in the town of Blumenau, while another 15 deaths were reported in Ilhota.
A state of emergency has been declared in Santa Catarina and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has offered federal help.
"Almost all the deaths were caused by landslides that left people buried in their own homes," said Santa Catarina Governor Luiz Henrique da Silveira.
In total more than a million people are said to have been affected by the flooding.
The floods have also caused part of a pipeline carrying natural gas from Bolivia to Brazil to be shut, cutting supplies to Santa Catarina and the neighboring state of Rio Grande do Sul.
PHOTO CAPTION
A view of the flooded Itajai city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina November 24, 2008.
BBC
