Kiriella, Elapatha worst affected

Chaminda PERERA

The highest number of people affected by the floods have been reported from Kiriella (1,114 families) and Elapatha (692 families) divisions, Ratnapura District Secretary H.W. Gunadasa said yesterday.

Gunadasa said the flood victims housed in temporary camps need bottled water, soap, toothbrush and tooth paste.

He said the magnitude of the floods in Ratnapura district is determined by the water level of Kaluganga. The district is always threatened by floods, when the Kaluganga water level rises.

He said the water level in many areas have come down except in the Iyagama, Kuruwita and Eheliyagoda DS divisions. "Over 10,000 people from 2,500 families have been affected and they are provided cooked meal by the Government," he added.

Divisional Secretaries have been instructed to provide cooked meals, dry rations and assess the damage to the houses. They are in the process of accessing the damage caused to the houses by floods. Meanwhile two minor earthslips were reported from Eheliyagoda and Kuruwita areas. Families in the area were evacuated by officials. Two deaths following electrocution were also reported from the district yesterday.

Nuwara Eliya District Secretary D.P.G. Kumarasiri told the Daily News yesterday that families in earthslip prone areas have been alerted over an imminent threat.

Several families in the Maskeliya and Kotmale DS Divisions were moved to safer places fearing earthslips. Flood and landslide victims in the district numbering over 250 are being provided cooked meals by the Government. An official from the Kalutara district said 20,569 people from 88,344 families have been affected due to floods. Over 63 houses were totally destroyed and 243 houses partly damaged.

He said the District Secretariat has already disbursed Rs. 4.7 million among the Divisional Secretariat Divisions where floods were reported.

He said the flood water in the Palinda Nuwara area has receded while the water levels in Bulathsinhala and Welipenna have risen.

WFP supports flood-hit

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) Sri Lanka yesterday announced that it will support 400,000 flood affected people with emergency food assistance.

In response to a request by the Government, WFP approved an immediate response operation to distribute 800 mts of assorted food commodities, totalling almost Rs 5 million, to the flood affected in Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara.

WFP's total support is based on a joint rapid needs assessment in the flood affected districts carried out by a UN team comprising representatives from the WFP and the Office of Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in co-ordination with the Disaster Management Centre and Economic Development Ministry. Economic Development Ministry will co-ordinate the release of food to beneficiaries in consultation with WFP.