Sri Lanka issues landslide warnings as cyclone toll hits 627

Colombo: Sri Lankan authorities issued fresh landslide warnings on Sunday with rains lashing areas already devastated by a powerful cyclone, as the de...

Colombo: Sri Lankan authorities issued fresh landslide warnings on Sunday with rains lashing areas already devastated by a powerful cyclone, as the death toll rose to 627.

A chain of tropical storms and monsoon rains has battered Southeast and South Asia, setting off landslides, flooding vast tracts and cutting off communities from Sumatra island's rainforests to the highland plantations of Sri Lanka.

At least 1,826 people have been killed in the natural disasters rolling across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam over the past two weeks.

Indonesia's president on Sunday vowed to step up aid, with demonstrators rallying after the country's death toll surpassed 900.

More than two million people in Sri Lanka -- nearly 10 percent of the population -- have been affected by last week's floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, the worst on the island this century.