3 Dead, Hundreds Displaced After #Floods and #Landslides in #SriLanka

Photo by @Vidyallk

At least 3 people have died after heavy rain triggered a landslide in the Central Province of Sri Lanka.

The landslide occurred in Walapane, about 17 km north east of the city of Nuwara Eliya, on 30 November, 2019. One person is thought to be missing.

Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC) says that stormy weather and heavy rain has been affecting wide areas of the country over the last few days.

Around 9 locations in the country recorded more than 100mm of rain in 24 hours to 01 December, 2019. Periya Pandivirichchan in Vavuniya district recorded 238mm and Yodha Wewa in Mannar District recorded 231 mm of rain during the same period. Further heavy rain of up to 150mm is likely, according to Sri Lanka’s Department of Meteorology. Strong winds of up to 80 km/h are also possible.

According to DMC over 4,100 people have been affected by the weather, in particular in Batticaloa and Ampara in Eastern Province. and Mannar in Northern Province. Almost 570 people have moved to safe locations after flooding in Batticaloa District.

Power supply has been cut to around 5,000 people after strong winds downed cable across the country. Roads have been blocked at several locations due to landslides or flooding.

Sri Lanka’s Irrigation Department said that the flood gates of at least 10 reservoirs have been opened.

DMC has urged the public to pay close attention to the weather forecasts and to be vigilant about the disasters in the area to minimize the damages caused by inclement weather.

Heavy rain has also been reported in southern states of India, including Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Courtesy of floodlist.com

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