News
Misery for a million as rain lashes country
On Friday, as the country joined in solemn commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the devastating tsunami, newer tragedies occurred as five 
bodies were recovered from Rilpola, Hali-ela in Badulla after an earth embankment collapsed on houses. Twenty people are still missing there.
The same day, another four bodies were found in Karunapura and Hegoda in Badulla following an earthslip. The victims were a woman aged 58 and her 22-year-old son and two other males.
Pallepola - Pic by Mahesh Ruwan
In Kandy, a man died and two children suffered serious injuries when earth collapsed on their house in Muruthalawa, Peradeniya.
Floods also claimed one life each in the Puttalam, Batticaloa and Ampara Districts while another two people are missing in Ampara.
By yesterday, 21 deaths were reported and close to one million people were affected in 18 districts.
The Irrigation Department’s Director of Water Management, Janaki Meegastenna said that 53 major reservoirs are spilling while 73 are 82 per cent full. The spill gates of 20 big tanks have been opened.
“After 1957, this is the first time all irrigation tanks have a large water supply with the majority spilling,” Ms. Meegastenna said.
She said the authorities are yet to access the damage to the agricultural sector as acres of paddy land are under water.
Trincomalee - Pic by Amadoru Amarajeewa
Rainfall has exceeded what are normally termed heavy falls, 100mm, with some areas deluged by more than 200mm of rain, the Meteorology Department said.
Pottuvil received 275mm of rain on Christmas Day while Badulla received 195mm, Moneragala 145mm, Bandarawela 134mm, Batticaloa 123mm, Mattala 115mm, Polonnaruwa 121mm, Kurunegala 119mm and Kandy 97mm.
About 80,000 victims of the rains, floods and earthslips have been resettled in 313 safe locations and relief centres, the Disaster Management Centre said. About 15,000 houses have been damaged.
Nuwara Eliya - Pic by Shelton Hettiarachchi
In Batticaloa District, one of the worst-affected areas, more than 20,000 people have had to leave flooded homes.
Transport services have been hampered by flooding and landslides.
The northern rail service resumed after a week’s halt due to the Thambuttegama and Thalawa lines being submerged.
According to the Railway Control Room the Colombo-Batticaloa service is blocked from Polonnaruwa onwards due to floods, and the up-country trains are stopped at Rambukkana due to rockfalls on the tracks.
A huge mass of soil had landed on top of the Colombo-Badulla night mail locomotive between Diyatalawa and Badulla on Christmas morning.
In Mannar District, with floods hitting the Mannar, Madhu, Nanattan, Manthai West and Musali areas, more than 2,000 families are staying at safe locations such as St James Church and St Anthony’s Church and a number of schools and pre-schools.
The Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura Districts are experiencing havoc. Flooded homes have forced some 3,000 people in Anuradhapura to seek temporary shelter.
Last week, hundreds of inmates in the Anuradhapura prison were relocated to other prisons as floodwaters hit the prison premises and the sacred city as the Malwatu Oya overflowed its banks.
Batticaloa
All 10 spill gates of the Kantale Reservoir, 20 spill gates of the Rajanganaya Reservoir and all eight gates of the Victoria reservoir were opened. The Kala-wewa and Kaudulla Reservoir spill gates were also opened.
In Polonnaruwa, 7,684 people are in temporary shelters.
Polonnaruwa Government Agent Nimal Abeysiri said the Somawathiya sacred area is still under water with the floods slowly receding.
Overflowing of the Mahaweli caused the Gallella area on the Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa road to go under water. Sigiriya town was also flooded after the Maha Wewa overflowed.
Across the whole of the Northern Province 15,271 people have been forced to move into temporary shelters with 3,700 houses damaged, particularly in Mullaitivu.
In Vavuniya District, more than 500 families have been moved into safe locations. In Jaffna, floods damaged 104 houses in Jaffna town and Chavakachcheri.
In the north-west, Puttalam was badly hit, with more than 600 families moved into safety in churches, schools and other centres.
Thousands of acres of paddy have been affected in many areas while day-wage earners on tea estates and vegetable farmers are being severely affected by the continual rains across the hill country.
Travel along the Kandy-Badulla Road via Randenigala, Kandy-Mahiyanganaya Road in Kandy District, Haliela-Nuwara Eliya Road via Atampitiya, Ella-Wellawaya Road, Badulla-Mahiyanganaya Road in Badulla District was very risky due to possible earthslips, the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) warned.
The Hanguranketha, Walapane divisional secretariat divisions, Kandy-Nuwara Eliya via Rikillagaskada, Padiyapellela, Walapane and Ragala, the Hatton-Nuwara Eliya Road especially the Talawakelle-Nuwara Eliya stretch and Bangalahata area are also at risk.
There was an earthslip along the Nuwara Eliya-Badulla A5 road near Lake Gregory, close to the Mahagastota junction. The hillside about 30 feet below the road has collapsed and police have advised those using to road to drive slowly and carefully.
Nuwara Eliya District Secretary D.P.G. Kumarasiri said the three main roads in Nuwara Eliya have been affected by rockfalls and landslides.
A 30-foot cave-in was reported on the Pilimatalawa-Divulgala Road.
In Kandy, 500 families have been moved to safety from areas such as
Minipe, Pathadumbara, Deltota, Panwila, Ududumbara, Pathadumbara and Doluwa.
S.A. Norbert, Professor at the Department of Geography, University of Colombo, said the prolonged drought earlier this year resulted in heavy rainfall, with intensity higher than in previous years.
(Additional reporting and pix by Shelton Hetti-arachchi, Mahesh Keerthiratne and Palitha Ariyawansa)
| 300 helped by navy The navy played a major role in relief operations, rescuing more than 300 people in the flood-hit districts of Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Polonnaruwa, Ampara, Trincomalee, Matale and Mannar. Met Dept issues red alert The Meteorology Department has issued a severe weather advisory saying conditions have intensified into a depression and heavy rainfall will continue into next week and cold conditions until the first weeks of January. Two universities Due to the prevailing bad weather the South Eastern and Eastern universities were closed indefinitely yesterday, officials said. |