Flood, earth-slip warnings issued to several areas as heavy winds, rain wreak havoc
Friday night's heavy winds accompanied by rains left a trail of destruction in several parts of the country, with hundreds of houses being damaged while some 400,000 people remained without electricity throughout the night.
There were also mini-floods in some areas while traffic came to a halt on the Hatton-Colombo main road following an earth-slips at Kitulgala and Ginigathhena, police said.
The road remained closed until last night.
According to the Disaster Management Centre, more than 5000 people faced hardships due to the adverse weather conditions.
DMC Deputy Director Pradeep Kodippili said several districts had been experiencing rain since Thursday night, and as a result, many villages, paddy fields and roads had been flooded.
A 72-year-old man was killed when an earth mound collapsed on a house in Dolosbage area in Gampola.
The Ceylon Electricity Board's Power and Energy Development Director and spokesperson, Sulakshana Jayawardena said maintenance staff had been deployed to several affected areas to restore power supplies as soon as possible.
The areas affected by power outage include Puttalam, Kurunegala, Kandy, Matale, Galle, Kalutara, Gampaha and Kegalle. Power supplies were cut off due to trees and branches falling on power lines.
The prevailing showery conditions in the South-western parts of the country particularly in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central provinces and the Galle and Matara districts in the south are expected to continue throughout the week, the Meteorology Department warns.
Duty Meteorologist Srimal Herath said strong gusty winds were likely over deep and shallow sea areas around the island due to active Southwest Monsoon conditions.
He said gusty winds -- up to 60 kmph at times -- were likely in the Northern, North-Central, NorthWestern and Southern provinces, the Trincomalee district and along the Western coast.
Heavy rainfall above 100 mm may occur at some places in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in the Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts today.
There will be light showers in the North-Central Province.
The National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) has issued a landslide warning for six districts including Ratnapura, Kandy, Kalutara and
Colombo.
NBRO's senior scientist Dr. Wasantha Senadeera urged the people to be watchful of possible slope failures, rock falls and subsidence, following nearly a full day of rain in many of these areas.
Irrigation Department Hydrology Director Engineer S.P.C. Sugeeshwara said the department had issued a minor flood warning for several areas low lying areas along the Kelani River, Kalu River, Gin River and the Nilwala River.
“The river water levels are rising as a the catchment areas have been experiencing heavy rainfall exceeding 200 ml," he said.
Accordingly, flood warnings have been issued to people in Bulathsinhala, Palinda Nuwara in the Kalutara district and Dehiowita, Ruwanwella, Seethawaka, Dompe, Kaduwela, Kolonnawa in the Colombo district.
People in Kaluganga, Ratanapura and Kuruvita in the Ratnapura district have been advised to be vigilant as there is a possibility of the present flood situation worsening. Flood warnings have also been issued to Ginganga areas such as Nagoda, Thawalama and Baddegama.
Motorists have been advised to avoid roads on high risk areas while people have been warned not to go for river baths and boat rides.