Death Toll Climbs to 27 in Sri Lanka Floods

Associated Press | The Wall Street Journal
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Floods that have killed 27 people and displaced 360,000 people have submerged huge swaths of rice paddies and are hampering food distribution, officials said Friday.

Days of heavy rain have swamped the island's Eastern Province, affecting more than a million people and flooding more than 30% of the land in the rice-growing region, which supplies food for much of the country, the Agriculture Ministry said.

The government estimated damages from the floods at $500 million, and the Disaster Management Center said four more people were reported dead Friday, with twelve more are missing.

Many fields were ready for harvesting, and the traditional harvest festival of ethnic Tamils was scheduled for Saturday. Some villages are marooned, with little or no food aid coming in. In the eastern Batticaloa district, 300 families have been living on corn and yams, said Velayutham Thevanayagam, a village official.

Concerns about the spread of disease, including typhoid, are also growing as the floods cause sewage lines to overflow and contaminate wells. Health officials have also ordered pregnant women and young children hospitalized to shield them from waterborne diseases.

Health Ministry spokesman Dharma Wanninayake said teams of doctors and health inspectors have been sent to the affected areas and have set up clinics, but residents said some hospitals aren't prepared for an epidemic.

In Muttur hospital in eastern Trincomalee district only four doctors are available, while 10 times that number are needed, said Mohammed Jihad, a community leader.

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