At least six persons were killed and seven others including a 10-year-old boy were reported missing and over 130,000 people have been affected as inclement weather swept through many parts of the country during the past few days, police and relief officials said yesterday.
The death of a 17- year-old girl was reported from a village in the Ratnapura area on Wednesday.
The victim was buried alive after a wall of mud triggered off by a landslide crashed on to her home.
Rescue workers are searching for a second person that went missing in the same incident. In Kudawewa, Mahawewa a search has been launched for a 10-year-old boy who was swept away by rising flood waters.
Officials said that some 130,000 persons have so far been affected owing to the prevailing turbulent weather and another 5,067 persons have been displaced.
Some 200 displaced families have been provided shelter at state-run relief centres while the remaining are being housed by relatives and friends. In addition, 317 homes and buildings have been damaged in the inclement weather.
The authorities also began evacuating people from landslide-prone areas in the Ratnapura and Kalutara districts while people living in several other regions have also been warned to remain on top alert.
The most affected areas are the Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Ratnapura and Puttalam districts, according to the officials.
The officials also warned that the levels in several open water bodies were on a steady increase as the rains continued.
They said the water levels were rising in the Kelaniya River, Kalu Ganga, Ging Ganga, Nilwala Ganga, Maha Oya and the Attanagala Oya.
Officials of the Department of Meteorology said that more heavy rain is expected over most parts of the country during the weekend and beyond.
The prevailing showers in the South-Western parts of the country – particularly in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central Provinces and in the Galle and Matara districts – and North-Western Province is expected to continue further, they said. Heavy falls above 150 mm can be expected at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-Western provinces and in the Galle and Matara districts.
Heavy rainfalls above 100 mm can also be expected in some areas in the Central and Uva Provinces, and called upon the public to take adequate precautions to minimise the damage caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
A 16-year-old girl was buried in an earthslip in a hilly rubber plantation in Medapola, Ayagama on Friday. Her body was found after about five hours. Heavy rain lashed many parts in the Ratnapura district for the past several days and the Disaster Management Centre has issued a landslide amber alert in Ayagama and a red alert in the Kalawana and Eheliyagoda DS divisions. (Pix: Ratnapura spl. cor N.P. Rajadore)
Heavy rains experienced in the past several days in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and parts of the Southern province caused landslides and flash floods, submerging a number of areas due to the overflowing of rivers including the Kalu and the Kelani. Here vehicles travelling through the flooded Pattiwila exit leading to Kelaniya on the Outer Circular Expressway on Friday. Pic: Rukmal Gamage