Race to get aid to Asia flood survivors as toll hits 1,300

FLOOD-HIT REGIONS EXPERIENCED HIGHEST NOVEMBER RAINFALL SINCE 2012

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Floodwaters surround a Buddhist temple in Wellampitiya, on the outskirts of Colombo, on Monday. Hardest-hit Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel to help survivors.

(AFP)

Governments and aid groups in Indonesia and Sri Lanka worked yesterday to rush aid to hundreds of thousands stranded by deadly flooding that has killed 1,300 people in four countries.

Torrential monsoon season deluges paired with two separate tropical cyclones last week dumped heavy rain across Sri Lanka and parts of Indonesia's Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.

AFP analysis of US weather data showed several flood-hit regions across Asia experienced their highest November rainfall totals since 2012.

The floodwaters have now largely receded, but the devastation means hundreds of thousands of people are living in shelters and struggling to secure clean water and food.