17 killed, over 271,000 affected by adverse weather

The death toll from floods and mudslides following heavy rains in Sri Lanka rose to 17 with another two missing, officials said Monday.

Ten districts on the island have been under heavy rainfall since last Thursday, including Colombo and suburbs where many houses, paddy fields and roads have been inundated. A total of 88 divisional secretariat divisions in total have been affected.

Ten people have died in floods while another seven lost their lives in mudslides, according to the Disaster Management Center. 

Among them was a family of four who died when a mound of earth crashed onto their house in Kegalle district. Two others remain missing.

Sri Lanka Navy said it had deployed 33 teams to flooded areas, which so far have rescued 66 people stranded by the floodwaters.

The Disaster Management Center said the extreme weather has affected some 271,110 people belonging to over 67, 000 families, and over 26,800 persons remain displaced in 104 emergency shelters. 

In addition to this around 22,932 persons belonging to 5,700 families are staying in the homes of relatives. More than 800 houses have been damaged.

Meanwhile the Department of Meteorology says that showers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Nuwara-Eliya and Kandy districts. 

Fairly heavy rainfall about 50 mm can be expected at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle and Matara districts.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at a few places in Uva and Eastern provinces during the evening or night while mainly fair weather will prevail elsewhere.