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The death toll in relation to last week's widespread flooding and landslides in Southeast Asia surpassed 1,500 on Thursday (December 4), ABC News reports.
A total 837 people were confirmed dead in Indonesia, 479 in Sri Lanka, 185 in Thailand and three in Malaysia as rescue teams' search efforts continued. Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for and calls for the government to act in response to decades of deforestation grew amid the rising death toll.
“We need the government to investigate and fix forest management,” said Rangga Adiputra, 31, a teacher whose West Sumatra was swept away.
“We don’t want this costly disaster to happen again," he added.
Heavy rain resulted in severe flooding and triggered landslides from Quang Tri to Lam Dong provinces, which covers an estimated 500-mile distance along Vietnam's central region. Dak Lak was reported to be the province hit hardest with 63 deaths, mainly due to drowning, while provinces with reported fatalities included Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Danang, Hue and Quang Tri.
Roads in several areas are reported to be washed out and helicopters have been deployed to drop food and aid supplies to residents trapped in the flooding.
“We've never experienced that much rain and such bad flooding,” said Pham Thu Huyen, one of the residents who helped clean up debris after a break in rain during the weekend, via ABC News.
Crops have also been affected by the heavy rain, with coffee farms in Dak Lak submerged. The overall damage is reportedly estimated to be worth around $500 million in total.