World Briefing
Thousands of Brazilians returned home after devastating rain-caused floods, but water kept rising in some places and civil defense officials used helicopters, trucks and boats to deliver aid to people in isolated communities.
The toll fell from 42 to 39 because some deaths had been mistakenly classified as flood-related, officials in the sprawling jungle state of Amazonas said.
The number of homeless dropped from 300,000 to 267,000 as residents headed home in some of the 11 states affected by the floods -- an area three times the size of Alaska. But water was still rising in some places and authorities warned that the situation remained dangerous because the forecast called for more heavy rain.
A major aid effort was still underway, with officials delivering food and drinking water to isolated communities surrounded by muddy water and newly formed lakes.
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