Floods caused by torrential rains have killed at least 25 people and injured seven in recent days, Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center (DMC) said. So far, more than 200,000 people in 145 district secretariats in 17 districts have been affected, but the situation could change.
Fearing landslides, authorities ordered the road connecting the capital with Kandy to Pahala Kadugannawa (Kegalle district) closed until tomorrow. Evacuations were ordered immediately in several districts. In Jaffna province, schools were closed until a later date.
Priyankara Costa, a resident of Madampe, a village in Northwest Province, told AsiaNews that the fury of the water washed away his cultivated land. “We have never experienced such terrible rain and flooding,” he explained.
His son is a student at Jaffna University and had to leave his boarding house in a hurry because of the danger of flooding. He now lives in a university dormitory.
A total of 212,030 people, or 60,264 households, were forced to seek shelter in the 76 localities administered by the MRC. Some 23 homes were completely lost and 1,229 were damaged. Experts warn that the threat of landslides remains.
Keerti Perera, a Gampa resident who does home gardening, says the floods have destroyed half of his plants. After we suffered “the COVID-19 pandemic, we started breathing; now it’s a new huge loss,” he said.
Stores and other businesses were also forced to close in a hurry.
Now everyone is hoping the weather will improve. In fact, the rains are predicted to be less intense today. However, the meteorological office still expects significant showers in the western part of the country and possibly overnight in the Northwest, Central and Uva provinces, including Ampara and Batticaloa districts.
As for winds, they will continue to whip the island at up to 50 kilometers per hour.
