Water in Venice has risen to its highest level in more than 20 years, leaving much of the Italian city under floods and forcing residents and tourists to wade through knee-high water.

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.

Forecasters are warning it might be a wet ride home for Thanksgiving holiday travelers on the East Coast Sunday.

Rescue workers took advantage of clear skies Sunday to resume searching for victims of devastating floods that have killed 114 people and ravaged more than a dozen cities in southern Brazil.

The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends Sunday, appears to have attained Olympian heights, setting at least five weather records in the United States and Cuba.

Weary residents ordered to evacuate during heavy overnight rains returned home Wednesday as the threat of mudslides and flash flooding in Southern California's burn areas eased.