15 killed, 13 missing and over 21,000 affected by floods

Heavy rains, floods and gale winds being experienced throughout the country have left 15 dead, 13 missing and over 21,000 affected.

 The Disaster Management Centre announced that a total of 21,120 persons belonging to 5,202 families have been affected in Southern, Central, North Central, Uva, Eastern and North Western Provinces.

They said that 6312 persons belonging to 1791 families are in 29 Evacuation Centres which have been set up in Matale, Kandy, Badulla, Nuwara-Eliya, Polonnaruwa, Monaragala and Batticaloa districts.

Eleven out of these centres have been established in the North Central Province. They also said that 92 houses in Batticaloa, Monaragala, Nuwara-Eliya, Kandy and Matale districts have been completely damaged while 499 houses have been partially damaged. The majority of the houses damaged are in the Eastern and Central provinces.

 In the Hambantota district 7,929 persons belonging to 1515 families from Tissamaharama, Sooriyawewa, Lunugamwehera and Ambalanthota have been affected. Many roads in the Hambanthota district including the Tangalle-Hambantota main road are impassable. Due to the rise of water levels in the Walawe Ganga, Ambalanthota, Malay Colony, and Puhulyaya areas and the Ambalanthota Police station have been flooded.

 In the Matale District around 1528 persons belonging to 373 families, in the Polonnaruwa district 3112 persons belonging to 1024 families, and in the Batticaloa district 2466 belonging to 632 families have been affected. The Irrigation Department said that many of the tanks and reservoirs are over spilling and sluice gates have been opened in these tanks and reservoirs.

 The Disaster Management Centre said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is in constant contact and guiding them about measures to be taken to provide relief to the flood victims. They said that cooked food are being served to people housed in temporary camps. The floods have also destroyed several thousand acres of paddy lands in the Polonnaruwa, Hambantota and Batticaloa districts.