High winds and more thunderstorms predicted

The active south-west monsoon will further bring heavy rain and strong winds across the country, the Meteorological Department warns.

While many parts of the country will experience heavy rain at times, the biggest concern is for the Uva, Central, and Eastern provinces. Showers or thundershowers will occur over most parts of the island after 2 p.m.

Showers will occur in the Western and Southern provinces during the mornings, too.

People are being asked to take precautions to minimise damage caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thunderstorms.

The department said the ground is already very saturated.

A low-pressure area formed over the southwest and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal in the morning of October 20. It is likely to intensify into a depression over the west-central Bay of Bengal around October 23.

The wind speed will be 40–45 kilometres per hour and can increase up to 50–55 kmph in sea areas between (10N and 14 N) and between (84E and 90E). Heavy showers or thundershowers and very rough seas are expected. Fishing and naval communities are told to avoid venturing into the sea.

Currently, 8,466 people from 2,215 families have been accommodated in alternative shelters, while earlier, more than 75,000 people had been displaced.

Meanwhile, seven people have died and three have sustained injuries due to weatherrelated accidents. Five of the deaths occurred after a tree crashed into a bus in Kollupitiya.

More than 900 properties have also been damaged islandwide.

Ratnapura, Kegalle, Badulla, Matara, Hambanthota, and Nuwara Eliya districts have received heavy rainfall.

Many people affected have been moved to Ganesha Tamil School, Kotabakma, and Mahakanda, Ella Palleperuwa.

According to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) 150 families have been relocated in the Badulla, Matara, and Ratnapura districts, mainly due to landslide threats.

The DMC said that since the end of September, several places around Matara have been inundated.

Several early warnings have been issued, including a level one warning for many districts.

The National Building Research Organisation has issued warnings for nine districts: Badulla, Galle, Hambantota, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya, Matara, and Ratnapura. Residents have been asked to be aware of landslides and earth slips.

Matara District Secretary Y. Wickramasiri said 64 houses were partly damaged and 33 houses were fully damaged.

The water levels in the Matara district have now significantly dropped, he said.

The removal of a section of the salinity barrier across the Nilwala River has begun under the guidance of the Sri Lanka Army, the Department of Irrigation, and the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, with the coordination of the Matara District Secretariat.

Residents have claimed that the salinity barrier prevented flood water from clearing.

The Met Office has already issued severe weather warnings with a focus on the south.

The Irrigation Department has reported that the Nilwala River has reached the minor flood level in the Thalgahagoda area.

Director of the hydrology and disaster management division of the Irrigation Department, SPC Sugeeshwara, says Panadugama in Nilwala Ganga is also at levels that need attention.

A low-pressure area formed over the southwest and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal in the morning of October 20. It is likely to intensify into a depression over the westcentral Bay of Bengal around October 23.