(CNN) -- More than 600 people remained missing Wednesday in one of two Brazilian states where heavy rain has led to 42 deaths and left thousands of residents homeless, officials said.
Flooding from heavy rain that started late last week has damaged large segments of Alagoas and Pernambuco states in coastal northeastern Brazil.
The death toll had not increased Wednesday from the previous day's tally -- 29 in Alagoas and 13 in Pernambuco, civil defense officials said.
The worst damage has occurred in Alagoas, where nearly 20,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, the state civil defense office said.
Video from CNN affiliate Record TV shows rivers of water rushing through city streets that have turned into roiling canals. Some people clamber on rooftops while others watch helplessly from second-floor windows. One scene shows a woman trying to cross a street by holding onto a rope suspended about a foot above the water, the strong current pushing her head underneath at one point before she emerges again and reaches helping hands on the other side.
