Authorities flew more rescue teams and military engineers from the mainland to help the Atlantic island where a heavy rainstorm on Saturday unleashed floods and mudslides, washing away bridges, blocking roads with rocks and mud and cutting off parts of the island.
Pedro Barbosa, deputy chief of the regional civil protection service, told Reuters one village, Curral das Freiras, was still cut off and could only be contacted by radio.
"We know there are some victims there, not a high number, but we will only know the details when rescuers reach the village later today," he said.
Francisco Ramos, the regional secretary for social affairs, told reporters there were 40 confirmed deaths on Madeira, which lies about 1,000 km southwest of Lisbon.
"We hope this number will not rise, but it probably will given the circumstances of this deluge," he said. "All teams are in the field working ... We will continue looking for bodies, we are awaiting teams from the continent."
Cars were swept away by the torrents and some houses were destroyed or damaged Saturday. Barbosa said about 120 people were injured and 300 spent the night in temporary shelters.
Ramos gave no estimate of the number of people missing, saying these were unreliable as many of the people initially unaccounted for were returning home on Sunday from temporary shelters after being unable to communicate with their families when mobile networks failed.
