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The death toll from flooding and mudslides in southeastern Brazil climbed to at least 665 people, as public outcry turned toward authorities' ongoing struggle to reach still-isolated areas and their failure last week to have warned residents of the danger of gathering storms.

Relief workers continued to unearth victims on Monday, even as rescue crews managed to reach survivors who have been trapped by earth and floodwaters since the downpours hit the state of Rio de Janeiro almost a week ago. In addition to those killed, nearly 14,000 people have been displaced from destroyed or damaged homes. An unknown number of people remain missing.

Amid the relief and recovery efforts, Brazilians are increasingly expressing outrage at local, state, and federal officials.

In addition to criticism that authorities had turned a blind eye toward construction in areas known to be vulnerable to flooding, they are now asking why the government, despite modern weather and communications systems, were unable to alert victims of the pending danger. Southern Brazil, after all, has been subject to frequent flooding in recent years, including downpours and landslides that killed hundreds of people during last year's rainy season.

The criticism is a stark contrast to the swelling confidence in recent years of a country with a booming economy and growing aspirations of international influence. With the rights to host soccer's World Cup and the summer Olympics later this decade, the perceived unpreparedness has prompted some Brazilians to question the country's ability to successfully prepare for and manage those events.

"A look at public policy ... or the lack thereof ... reveals a long chain of unpreparedness, administrative incompetence, technical incapacity, and political irresponsibility," wrote the Estado de S. Paulo, a leading daily, in a Monday editorial. Over the weekend, the newspaper reported that federal officials as recently as November admitted in documents that much of the country's civil-defense network is "unprepared" to respond adequately to natural disasters.

After a meeting with President Dilma Rousseff on Monday, Aloizio Mercadante, Brazil's science and technology minister, said the country is developing an early warning system for natural disasters. But the system, which would cross weather forecasts with scientific data from risk areas throughout the country, could take four years to implement, he added.

Last week's deaths mark the worst natural disaster ever recorded in Brazil, surpassing a 1967 flood in the state of São Paulo that killed 436 people. In addition to the human toll, reconstruction in the mountainous region north of Rio's coast will cost at least $1.2 billion, according to estimates by local authorities.

Despite the best efforts of hundreds of local, state, and federal workers - and scores of volunteers working to help them - many survivors and relatives of residents have acted on their own. While some working-class residents resorted to digging through mud and rubble by hand, those more well off have rented helicopters to conduct private searches. One Rio-based air-taxi company reported Sunday it had a waiting list for flights.

Meanwhile, continued rain continues to pose the risk of more landslides. Though the volume of downpours has diminished, "we maintain a state of alert on the area," said Kelen Andrade, a meteorologist with a government forecaster.