Heavy rains set off floods across three provinces in Sri Lanka, leaving more than 40,000 people displaced, local authorities said yesterday.

Northern, northcentral and eastern provinces were hit by floods that came after two days of rain, forcing thousands to take refuge in schools, temples and community halls, officials in the provinces said.

The worst-hit area was Batticaloa district, 300km east of the capital, where some 30,000 persons were affected. Anuradhapura district, 180km northeast of Colombo, was also badly hit.

Thousands more had to be evacuated by the army and navy officials, including from tourist hot spots such as Anuradhapura where ancient
ruins are a popular attraction.

The towns of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa in the northcentral province are also home to some of Sri Lanka’s largest rice cultivation with hundreds of dams scattered around the region to provide water in the usually arid region.

Lashed by heavy showers for days as many as 29 of the big dams and 83 of the medium ones have reached danger level, forcing sluice gates to be opened, threatening people living downstream.

“The safety of pilgrims and foreign visitors is being given priority. They have been evacuated from hotels near major tanks while pilgrims were removed from the sacred city,” Anuradhapura district secretary Mahinda Seneviratne
told reporters.

Severe rain is expected to continue during the Christmas week, dampening relief efforts.

Met department forecaster Jeewan Karunaratne said a disturbance in the upper atmosphere had activated the
northeast monsoon.

“We are expecting heavy rains in the coming weeks as atmospheric disturbances are occurring in a wave pattern,” he said.

Landslide warnings have also been issued to four
districts in central Sri Lanka.

The floods have also hampered road and railway transport services. Saturday’s trains carrying mail from Colombo to the east and north were cancelled after tracks were submerged at several locations, local media reported.

“We are providing cooked meals and evacuating people from the affected areas,”
disaster management spokesman
Lal Kumara said.

Anuradhapura and Batticaloa were two areas hit by a severe drought in Sri Lanka from August to November, which destroyed large areas of paddy fields.

 

 

 

Related Story