Diatomaceous earth for fleas?

I was wondering if anyone else had ever tried this DE stuff as a flea powder. I tried searching under the topic search engine, but it has been disabled. My apologies if this topic has been discussed here before.
We've not had fleas on our five pets in about ten years, but for some reason, this year they are back. I was hoping all of the drenching rain this winter would drown the little beasties (the fleas, not my pets ;-) but no such luck. Any advice would be appreciated!