New Delhi, Dec. 5 -- The death toll from last week's catastrophic floods and landslides in parts of Asia surged past 1,500 Thursday as rescue teams raced to reach survivors isolated by the disaster with hundreds of people still unaccounted for across the region.

The latest figure came as meteorologists warned of renewed rainfall across North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh in coming days, sparking fears of further devastation in areas already reeling from deadly floods.

The tragedy was compounded by warnings that decades of deforestation caused by unchecked development, mining and palm oil plantations may have worsened the devastation. Calls grew for the government to act.

"We need the government to investigate and fix forest managemen...