Flood horror

Rasika Somarathna

COLOMBO: Torrential rains during the past few days which wreaked havoc in several parts of the country mainly due to flooding left at least seven dead with more than 350,000 others affected in eight districts, with Jaffna being the worst hit.

However the flood waters were receding in the affected areas by yesterday with the improvement in the weather. The Met. Department said the mini-cyclone which aggravated the inter-monsoonal conditions had left Sri Lanka.

Seven people were reported dead in Jaffna but according to authorities the figure could be much higher as there were several reported cases of missing persons.

The Disaster Management Centre said yesterday that nearly 100,000 people had sought refuge in temporary camps with 88440 of them being from the Jaffna Peninsula. The other affected districts included Mannar, Trincomalee, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Moneragala, Kandy, Matale and Hambantota. Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Rishard Bathuideen said the Government had taken speedy measures to provide relief to the flood-affected.

He said Rs. 10 million had been allocated to Jaffna to expedite relief services with another Rs. 3 million for Mannar and Rs. 02 million each for Trincomalee and Kilinochchi. In addition, Rs. 01 million has been allocated to Moneragala.

According to him 247 temporary camps have been set up in Jaffna with cooked meals, other essentials along with medical support being provided by the authorities.

A total of 7,954 houses has been fully damaged in Jaffna and another 17,060 partially.

Meanwhile, the Weathermen predicted that although the mild tropical cyclone had passed away there still would be heavy showers at times in most parts of the country in the afternoon or evening due to monsoonal conditions. They said strong winds were possible at some locations with thunder accompanying rains at most times.