India ? Floodwaters across south Asia began to recede Sunday as torrential monsoon rains eased, allowing doctors to treat scores of people suffering from waterborne diseases and deliver medicine to prevent the outbreak of epidemics.

But hunger, thirst and the need for safe shelter still stalked the region, where millions have been displaced by flooding. The death toll also marched relentlessly upward, with at least 289 people killed in the past week, authorities said.

Since the June start of the monsoon season, the government says more than 1,200 people have died in India alone, with scores of others killed in Bangladesh and neighboring Nepal. Some 14 million people in India and 5 million in Bangladesh have been displaced by flooding, according to government figures.