Fourty-one people have been killed in the storms which hit Brazil's northeastern region in the past few days, authorities said on Tuesday.

Photo taken on June 22, 2010 shows a damaged railway caused by overflowing water in the northeastern part of Brazil. Raging floods in northeastern Brazil have killed at least 41 people and left as many as 1,000 missing, officials said Tuesday. [Agencia Estado/Xinhua]

A total of 29 people died in the Alagoas state while 12 others were killed in the neighboring state of Pernambuco. At least 600 people are still missing, and some of them might be trapped in areas isolated by flood waters.

Fifteen towns in Alagoas and nine in Pernambuco declared state of calamity. A total of 170,000 people were affected by the storms, and at least 115,000 of them were displaced.

The Air Force is distributing food kits in several municipalities, and plans to set up two field hospitals in Alagoas. Helicopters and military vehicles were sent to reach the isolated areas.

The federal government announced the immediate release of 100 million reais (56 million U.S. dollars) in emergency aid to the storms' victims in the two states.

According to the latest weather forecasts, the rain will continue for a few days in the disaster zones.