RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Fresh rainfall threatened to spark more landslides in Brazil's flood-devastated Santa Catarina state on Saturday as officials reported four more deaths caused by a mudslide, bringing the total number of victims to 109.

Rescuers found the four victims of a fresh landslide on Friday, Brazil's Civil Defense agency said on Saturday, in a reminder of the danger still facing residents from mudslides and floods that also have displaced nearly 79,000 people and affected 1.5 million.

Media reports said the four victims, including a 10-year-old girl, already had been evacuated from their home in the worst affected Ilhota area but had returned despite official warnings it was not safe.

Months of heavy rain have sparked about 4,000 landslides in the southern state, the heartland of German and Italian immigration in Brazil, cutting power and burying hundreds of homes and many roads beneath rivers of mud. The death toll could rise as 19 people are still missing.

Rescue workers have been shoveling through the mud and ferrying stranded survivors to safety in dinghies, while hundreds of army and police troops have been sent to help distribute medicine and food and and stop looting that broke out in some towns.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva authorized about $880 million in emergency relief funds this week after residents complained that food aid had failed to arrive.

Patchy rain fell in the region on Saturday and more was forecast for next week. Experts say the soil in the region remains drenched and precarious in many areas.

(Reporting by Stuart Grudgings, editing by Vicki Allen)

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