From Yahoo News/Reuters:
Brazil flood death toll rises to 443, more fearedIt will be interesting to research the historical records. Australia had the same flooding disaster about 30 years ago. What was it like then in Brazil...
Rescue workers dug desperately for survivors on Thursday and struggled to reach areas cut off by floods and landslides that have killed at least 443 people in one of Brazil's deadliest natural disasters in decades.
Torrents of mud and water set off by heavy rains left a trail of destruction through the mountainous Serrana region near the city of Rio de Janeiro, toppling houses, buckling roads and burying entire families as they slept.
"It's like an earthquake struck some areas," said Jorge Mario, the mayor of Teresopolis, where 185 people were killed and scores more were feared dead.
Every ten years or so there is horrible flooding in Brazil that is worst in their history.
I'm not sure if the flooding is actually getting worse or if it is just that the population is higher.
In 1948, the worst flooding in history killed approximately 200 of 49,590,000.
In 1974, the worst flooding in history left 300,000 homeless in a country of 102,396,000.
In 2010, the worst flooding in history left 506 dead and 100,000 homeless in a country of 193,733,795.
I guess 'worst flooding in history' depends on what metric you use.
Flooding is pretty common there though, I don't think any trend can be drawn from the news other than an increase in potential victims.