15 dead, 55 thousand families homeless due to floods in South

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 October 2006, 14:30 GMT]
Fourteen persons including an eight-year old child were killed and about fifty five thousand families have been rendered homeless in the south of Sri Lanka following heavy rain and landslides in the last two days, social services department sources said. Internally displaced persons about two hundred thousand people have been sheltered in temporary shelters located in schools and public buildings, according to the same sources.

Deaths occurred in Kurunegala, Gampaha, Galle, Puttalam, and Badulla. The worst hit districts are Gampaha and Kalutara.

Low-lying areas in the districts of Gampaha, Kalutara, Negombo, Colombo, Ratnapura, Badulla, Kegalle and Kurunegala have been inundated with flood water, sources said.

In Colombo city many roads are under water, according to Colombo residents.

Social Services Department has taken steps to supply cooked meals to those IDPs sheltered in schools and public buildings, sources said.