More than 200000 families hit by floods in northeast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 December 2004, 17:39 GMT]
More than two hundred thousand families have been affected by the heavy rains and floods in the northeast, offials said. Batticaloa has the largest number of flood afflicted people - more than 75,000. There are 65,000 in Amparai and more than 40,000 in Kilinochchi Mullaithivu and Trincomalee. Around 4,000 families are affected by the floods and rain in Jaffna. Traffic on the main highway from Batticaloa was blocked as it went under 4.5 feet of flood waters Thursday.

Most of the families are staying in schools and church buildings according to Social Services Ministry officials.

The extensive damge to paddy fields and agricultural lands has not yet been estimated.

Meanwhile about 1,500 families in the Polonannaruwa district have been rendered homeless, Government Agent Mr. Ranjith Wijeyathilaka said.

The floods have already destroyed over 15,000 acres of paddy there he added. The Polonnaruwa- Batticaloa highway was submerged under 4.5 feet of flood water yesterday and all traffic movement was stopped, he added.