The death toll from floods and mudslides triggered by torrential storms in southern Brazil climbed to 39.
Officials from the state hard hit have warned of worse to come.
The state’s civil defence department said at least 265 municipalities had suffered storm damage in Rio Grande do Sul since Monday, injuring 74 people and displacing more than 24,000, adding that a third of whom have been brought to shelters.
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At least 68 people were missing, and more than 350,000 have experienced some form of property damage, according to the latest data.
And there was no end in sight, with officials reporting an “emergency, presenting a risk of collapse” at four dams in the state.
The level of the state’s main Guiaba river, meanwhile, was estimated to have risen 4.2 to 4.6 meters (about 13.7-15 feet), but could not be measured as the gauges have washed away, the mayor of Porto Alegre said.
As it kept rising, officials raced to reinforce flood protection.
Porto Alegre’s worst recorded flood was in 1941 when the river reached a level of 4.71 meters.
Elsewhere in the state, several cities and towns have been completely cut off from the world in what Governor Lite described as “the worst disaster in the history” of Rio Grande do Sul.