NEW DELHI – The death toll rose on Monday to nearly 400 in Kerala, reelingunder its worst flood in a century, as authorities handed out medicine anddisinfectants to ward off disease in thousands of relief camps.

Dozens of people are missing and 1.2 million are sheltering in the camps,state officials said, as water receded and a huge clean-up gathered pace.

“The death toll has risen to 373,” an official of the state s disastermanagement authority said.

Kerala received rainfall that was more than 40 percent greater than normalfor the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, and torrentialrain in the last 10 days forced officials to release water from dozens ofdangerously full dams.

J.P. Nadda, the country s health minister, said more than 3,500 medicalcamps were set up across a region roughly the size of Switzerland, whererains since Aug. 8 have swelled rivers and triggered landslides.

“There is a requirement for 90 different medicines and the first instalmenthas reached,” he added.