Floods, landslides affect 134,693

Disna Mudalige

Floods and landslides were reported in several parts of the island yesterday with the heavy rain caused by the atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said floods were reported in Matale, Ampara, Batticaloa, Killinochchi, Mullaithivu and Vavuniya districts, while a flash flood was experienced in the Kandy district.

Landslides were reported in Badulla and Matale. The DMC Situation Report said as at yesterday noon, 134,693 people belonging to 45,918 families have been affected due to the inclement weather.

One person in Welimada, Badulla died due to a landslide while another in Thirukkovil, Ampara was injured due to floods.Two hundred seventy three houses were fully damaged while another 1,558 houses have been partially damaged due to inclement weather.

As at yesterday noon, 1,060 people belonging to 292 families were at 24 evacuation centres.

Meanwhile, an Irrigation and Water Resources Management Ministry spokesman said spill gates of many reservoirs had been opened due to rising water levels.

He requested people living in down streams to be extra cautious about the water levels.

Spills gates of Hurulu wewa, Padaviya wewa, Nachchaduwa wewa, Wahalkada wewa and Rajanganaya reservoir in the Anuradhapura district were opened.

In the Hambantota district, four spill gates of Weheragala reservoir were opened.

Ten spill gates of Parakrama Samudraya in Polonnaruwa were opened while seven spill gates of Minneriya reservoir were also opened.