Bad weather spell eases

Ishara MUDUGAMUWA

The bad weather spell in Galle, Kurunegala, Vavuniya, Mullaithivu and Puttlam has eased, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) sources said yesterday.

The sources said 503,347 persons from 137,004 families were affected by floods which claimed 47 lives with eight missing and 16 injured. Around 4042 houses were fully damaged and 31,741 houses partially damaged by strong winds and earthslips.

A total of 5,595 persons from 1,591 families have been evacuated to 66 evacuation centres. The worst affected was Batticaloa district. Rescue missions are continuing with the aid of the Police and the Armed Forces.

The DMC has also taken measures to provide relief to affected families.

A large number of people in Matale, Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts were also affected by land slides while four lightning casualties were reported from the Kegalle district.

The cold weather conditions in most parts of the island is due to the dry wind blowing across the country from the north of India, Meteorology Department duty forecaster Prabodini Karunapala said.

She said Sri Lanka experiences cold weather during December and January every year adding that there will be no rain in the next few days.