Flood havoc

Relief for flood- hit:

Rasika SOMARATHNA

The Government yesterday allocated Rs 15 million as an initial sum for the flood affected.

COLOMBO: The heavy deluge experienced during the last couple of days which caused flooding and landslides has wreaked havoc in several parts of the country, leaving at least four people dead and more than 50,000 affected. In addition around 8,000 families were reported as displaced by yesterday.

Weathermen warned yesterday that there was a risk of more landslides and floods as heavy rains would accompany the onset of Southwest Monsoon, expected to get established over the island within the next two days.

National Coordinator, Disaster Management Centre, Colonel K. Ekanayake said four deaths had been reported from Matara, Galle, Kalutara and Kegalle districts with the flood prone Ratnapura being the worst affected with more than 4,000 families already seeking temporary shelter.

According to Colonel Ekanayake the situation in Ratnapura was getting worse with the Kaluganga starting to overflow and steps were being taken to evacuate people living in the river banks. Navy boats had been deployed to evacuate the affected.

A warning has also been relayed to there in low lying areas of the Kelani river banks, specially in the Colombo district to find alternative shelter as their is a threat of the river overflowing if the rains continue, the National Coordinator sai said.

Galle, Gampaha, Kegalle, Kalutara and some parts of Colombo district were also considered as the worst hit areas.

News from provincial areas said transport was badly hampered in several areas due to landslides and the rising water levels which had left several roads impassable.

Transport from Avissawella to Hatton and Kegalle is reported to be affected due to roads been inundated. Several roads in the Galle district are impassable with the Neluwa Divisional Secretariat division the worst affected.

Several roads in Ayagama, Nivithigala, Kalawana, Elapatha and Kuruwita Divisional Secretariat divisions in the Ratnapura district are impassable due to earthslips and flooding.

However according to Colonel Ekanayake, all measures were afoot to assist the affected with a properly co-ordinated mechanism involving government authorities in the area.

He added that rescue boats had been dispatched to the needy areas with Navy assistant.

Meanwhile, the Meteorology Department issuing a special weather advisory, attributed the heavy rains to a low level disturbance which accompanied the onset of the South West Monsoon.

While predicting strong winds during the same period, the Meteorology Department ruled out anything even close to what happened in Myanmar emphasising that such cyclonic conditions only occurred in the upper part of the Bay of Bengal.

However, the condition is expected to settle down in another couple of days with the Monsoon getting established and the weather pattern is expected to stabilise with occasional showers according to the normal Monsoonal pattern.

During July and August, the rains are expected to spread to Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts and the temperatures is expected to remain high as the winds release a lot of energy when encountered with the central hills.

With the weathermen predicting ample rain with the onset of the Southwest Monsoon, paddy and tea cultivations are expected to get enough rain and during the harvesting season in September, rains are expected to recede with the Monsoon fading away.

Catchment areas in the central hills are also expected to reach capacity levels during the period.

Meteorology Department sources said there was nothing unusual and these conditions were common during the Monsoonal period, but considering the figures in previous years, the amount of rain might slightly increase.