Extreme weather across Asia has killed more than 800 people, with floods, cyclones and torrential rain continuing to affect millions, APA reports, citing ABC News.
The death toll in Sri Lanka from Cyclone Ditwah climbed to 212 with 218 missing, officials said on Sunday, as floodwaters breached a dam and rescue operations continued for a fourth day.
Nearly a million people had been impacted by the heavy rains and floods that had swept through large parts of the south-Asian island nation, forcing nearly 200,000 people into 1,275 shelters, the Disaster Management Centre said in a statement.
Record rains lashed the country from last Thursday, causing multiple landslides in the hilly central region, while overflowing rivers submerged entire towns nationwide.
More than 24,000 police, army and air force personnel were still trying to reach families stranded by floods, authorities said.
Sri Lanka's air force used helicopters to fly more than 120 people to safety after water breached the dam of the Mavil Aru Reservoir in the eastern part of the island.
About another 2,000 people were moved to higher ground for safety, the military said in a statement.
Floodwaters have trapped dozens of families in their homes in the commercial capital of Colombo, which is one of the worst-affected places.
In the Colombo suburb of Kelaniya, as in many other parts of the country, state agencies and donors were supplying cooked food, but many people told Reuters they had yet to receive adequate help.
More than 17,000 people are living in shelters waiting for the floodwaters to retreat from their homes.
"My sister and I were trapped on the upper floor of our home with our four children for two days," Sunethra Priyadarshani, 37, told Reuters.
"We slowly ran out of food. We only had biscuits and water to give them last night."
The family was rescued by a boat that delivered lunch to them.
The irrigation department said the floodwaters were expected to gradually recede over the next three days as the cyclone moved towards southern India.
Power, water and communications would be gradually restored over the next three days, authorities said, after transmission lines and transformers were swept away by floods.
Indonesians desperate for food, water after deadly floods
In Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, where torrential rains have caused floods and landslides, officials said on Sunday the death toll had mounted to more than 600.
Relief efforts for tens of thousands of displaced people continued over the weekend.
South-East Asia faced large-scale devastation after a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait, fuelling heavy rains and wind gusts for a week.
More than 4 million people have been affected — nearly 3 million in southern Thailand and 1.1 million in western Indonesia, according to official statistics.
There were 435 deaths in Indonesia, 170 in Thailand, and three deaths reported in Malaysia.
Some residents of the flood-hit Indonesian island of Sumatra had resorted to stealing food and water to survive, authorities said.
The floods, which hit Indonesia nearly a week ago, have killed 442 people — with the number expected to rise as more bodies are recovered — and displaced 290,700 people. In addition, nearly 3,000 houses have been damaged, including 827 that have been flattened or swept away by floods.
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