Some 80 homes were damaged, and around 300 people were being housed in shelters, mostly in schools.
At least 58 people have been killed in devastating flash floods that swept through the picturesque Brazilian city of Petropolis, turning streets into torrential rivers.
Heavy storms on Tuesday dumped 258 millimeters of rain on the city in three hours, nearly equal to all the rainfall from the previous month, said the mayor's office for the scenic town in the hills north of Rio de Janeiro.
Some 80 homes were damaged, and around 300 people were being housed in shelters, mostly in schools, officials said.
Wendel Pio Lourenco, a 24-year-old resident, was walking through the streets with a television in his arms, heading to a local church in search of shelter.
He said he was trying to save a few possessions, after spending a sleepless night helping search for victims of the disaster.
"I found a girl who was buried alive," he said.
Officials said more than 180 firefighters and other rescue workers were responding to the emergency.
City hall declared a "state of disaster" in the city of 300,000 people, which sits 68 kilometers north of the city of Rio.
Many shops were completely inundated by the rising waters, which gushed down the streets of the historic city center.
Officials said 400 soldiers had been sent in to reinforce rescue teams, which were using four-wheel-drive vehicles, rescue boats and a dozen planes to search for victims.
READ MORE: Casualties as landslides hit tourist town in Brazil's Rio
Tragedy
Tuesday's rainfall was more than expected for the whole month of February, according to the meteorological agency MetSul.
The heaviest downpour had passed, but more moderate rainfall was expected to continue for several days, authorities said.
President Jair Bolsonaro, on an official trip to Russia, said on Twitter that he was keeping abreast of "the tragedy" and asked his ministers to provide "immediate aid to the victims."
Brazil has been swept by heavy rains in the past several months that have caused a series of deadly floods and landslides.
Experts say rainy season downpours are being augmented by La Nina – the cyclical cooling of the Pacific Ocean – and by the impact of climate change more broadly.
Because a warmer atmosphere holds more water, global warming increases the risk and intensity of flooding from extreme rainfall.
Earlier this month, torrential rain triggered floods and landslides that killed at least 28 people in southeastern Brazil, mostly in Sao Paulo state and the region north of Rio.
READ MORE: Deaths as heavy rains torment southeastern Brazil
It is not the first time the mountains around Rio have been the scene of deadly storms.
In January 2011, more than 900 people died in the region due to heavy rains that caused flooding and landslides in a large area including Petropolis and neighboring cities Nova Friburgo and Teresopolis.
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