Monday's deluge ? Venice's biggest in 22 years ? may help wash away remaining resistance to an elaborate project to build mobile barriers that will prevent  future flooding here.

Heavy rainfall and winds of up to 60 mph left one person dead and disrupted traffic on the country's main highway on Thursday, authorities said.

Brazilian authorities said Thursday that  tens of thousands of flood victims have begun returning home in southern Brazil.

A 30-mile scar of debris along the Texas coast stands as a festering testament to what state and local officials say is FEMA's sluggish response to the 2008 hurricane season.

Residents and tourists in Venice waded through knee-deep water Monday as they navigated the city's narrow streets and alleys, and its historic St. Mark's Square was inundated.

In New Orleans, a warning to flee emptied the city before Hurricane Gustav in early September. In Houston, a plea to "hunker down" might have kept evacuation routes from clogging before Hurricane Ike struck.