633 people displaced by torrential rain

• Landslide warnings issued to 5 districts 
• 197 homes also suffer partial damage   

By Asiri Fernando

The National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) yesterday extended warnings to five districts on the possibility of landslides after heavy rains displaced 633 people from 210 families. 

According to the DMC an amber (Level 2) warning has been issued for Galle and Kalutara districts, while a yellow warning (level 1) has been issued by the NBRO to Colombo, Ratnapura and Kegalle. In Colombo Padukka and Seethawaka areas are at the highest risk. 

Nearly 633 persons from 210 families have been displaced due to the heavy rain fall in six districts on Tuesday. In addition a 197 homes have suffered partial damage according to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC).  

Deputy Director of the DMC Pradeep Kodipili called on the public to be vigilant if rainfall continued into this afternoon and move to safer areas as a precautionary measure. 

“The public in these districts need to pay attention to signs of landslides, they should especially look for new cracks in the ground or on the floor or walls buildings and if there is a sudden slanting of trees or electrical posts. Particular attention is needed to be given to buildings or dwellings established on slopes. Look out for new springs of muddy water that could be signs of a pending landslide. If any of these signs are observed they need to move from these locations to safer grounds,” Kodipili warned. 

He explained that the Meteorological Department was expecting rain over 100 mm over last night, especially for Uva and Western and Eastern parts of the island, which may contribute to a rise in the water level of several flood prone rivers in those areas. 

Wind speed can increase up to 40 kmh at times over Northern, North-Central and North-Western provinces and in the Hambantota District, the Met Department said, urging the public to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by lightning activity and localised strong winds during thundershowers. The Met Department predicted that heavy rain or thundershowers will occur at several places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Central and North-Western provinces on.

According to the DMC, the highest rainfall of yesterday, 287 mm, fell on Salawa Estate in the Colombo District. 

Kodipilli told the Daily FT that the military and Police search and rescue teams were already positioned near flood and landslide prone areas and will be deployed as needed by the DMC. The Navy had deployed salvage divers and engineer teams to clear debris from several rivers during the last week, with the aim of improving the downward flow and to prevent rain water from stagnating at bottlenecks in the rivers which contributes to flooding.

The national hotline 117 is operational 24 hours to assist those in distress due to natural disasters.