Sri Lanka: Floods recede, affected continue to suffer

By Ishtartha Wellaboda - The torrential rains and the ensuing floods have now begun to recede, but those affected in the disaster continue to suffer.

According to the Disaster Management Centre 20 lives were claimed during last week’s rains and floods, while 546,247 others were affected by the floods.

Meanwhile, 15,361 people have been displaced with their houses being washed away. Currently, the displaced are being facilitated at 78 centres around the country. The DMC also reports that 493 houses were fully destroyed by the floods while another 2,496 houses had barely survived.

Though it was reported that Hurricane Laila passed from the Bay of Bengal towards India, DMC reports that the hurricane’s effects caused some damage to property and people in the Jaffna Peninsula. The effects of the Hurricane destroyed 27 houses in Jaffna while causing damage to another 524 houses. Over 2,216 people in Jaffna were affected by the hurricane.

Gampaha District appears to be the worst struck area due to floods with eight deaths and 193,330 people affected. Colombo District is the second worst affected area. Though no deaths were reported 153,342 people in the district were affected by floods.

Two families in the Kothmale area in Nuwara Eliya and a family in Dehiowita were also harmed by landslides. However, no one had sustained any serious injuries. Meanwhile, two people were killed by drowning in flood water in Habaraduwa and Elpitiya.

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