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More heavy rains expected in three provinces
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Hatton Pix by Manula Sellahewa
The Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central Provinces which were hit by flash floods and earthslips on Wednesday and Thursday, will continue to receive heavy rains over the next three to four days, the Meteorology Department has warned.
In the Southern Province districts of Galle and Matara, showers or thundershowers will occur at times with some areas receiving more than 50 mm of rainfall.
Disaster management officials have urged the people to take adequate precautions from strong winds and lightning during thunderstorms.
The National Building Research Organisation has issued landslide warnings for the Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, and Ratnapura districts.
Nuwara Eliya Disaster Management Centre Assistant Director A M R N K Alahakoon said transportation on the Hatton-Kandy and Hatton-Colombo main roads were disrupted due to earthslips.
In the low-lying areas of Watawala, several houses had been inundated due to the Hatton Oya bursting its banks on Thursday, but by Friday, the water level had subsided, officials said.
Abagamuwa
In addition, earthslips have occurred at several places in the Ambagamuwa area on the Ginigathhena-Nawalapitiya main road.
Mr Alahakoon said that in the Nuwara Eliya District, more than 300 people from 117 families had been affected. Of them, 251 people evacuated to safety were told to find shelter at a relative’s or friend’s house because the authorities did not want to accommodate them in makeshift shelters due to the rapid spread of Covid-19.
Irrigation Department Engineer S P C Sugeeshwara said owing to the high rainfall in the upstream catchment areas of the Kelani River, there was a possibility of floods occurring in the downstream low-lying areas.