Two dams also broke in northeastern Brazil, threatening worse flooding in a rain-drenched region that has already seen thousands of forced to flee their homes.
A total of 116 cities in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia are in a state of emergency because of flooding due to heavy rains that have been pounding the region since the end of November.
Cities in at least five other states in Brazil's north and southeast have also been flooded in recent days, officials said on Tuesday.
In Bahia, flooding has affected more than 470,000 people. In at least 50 cities, water surged into homes and businesses, and people were forced to abandon their belongings.
Official data from the state government say 34,163 people have been made homeless and almost 43,000 are displaced.
There have been a total of 21 deaths and 358 people injured since the beginning of the month.
In an interview with local radio stations on Tuesday morning, Bahia Governor Rui Costa compared the situation to a "bombardment." He also said that coronavirus vaccines were lost in the floods of some cities.
READ MORE: Brazil evacuates residents as dams burst in northeast
Heaviest period of rainfall
This is the heaviest period of rainfall for Bahia in the last 32 years, according to the website of the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters, a government agency.
In southern Bahia, it rained more than five times the normal amount for this time of the year.
On Tuesday, the population of at least four municipalities in Bahia received warnings to leave their homes because of the increased flow of the Pardo River due to the opening of the Machado Mineiro dam's sluice gates in neighboring Minas Gerais state, according to the state government's advisory office.
Bahia's civil defence superintendent Colonel Miguel Filho told The AP news agency that there are still flooded and isolated cities, and rains are still ongoing.
"Our first response is to help, then to shelter, to care for the population in the shelters by giving humanitarian aid, with sheets, blankets, food," he said.
READ MORE: Heavy rains displace thousands in northeast Brazil
Global heating behind Bahia flooding?
The federal government has authorised emergency spending totalling $14.2 million for Bahia alone.
Additional funds will be directed to other regions also affected by the rains in recent weeks, and which are still suffering the consequences.
Carlos Nobre, a prominent climatologist, explained that the intensity of rains observed in Bahia are due to global heating.
"We have to expect that these kinds of phenomena become more and more common. It’s how the planet responds. The evaporation of the oceans is greater and, with more water vapor in the atmosphere, there are more conditions for more intense rains, as we saw in Europe and China months ago," said the expert, who also mentioned other climatic phenomena that are becoming more intense and frequent, such as droughts, hurricanes and fires.
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