More than 84 die in Sri Lanka floods

Floods and landslides hit a town and villages in south-central Sri Lanka, killing at least 84 people and forcing 150,000 people to flee their homes, officials said today.

The bodies of 37 people had been recovered, and rescue officials said at least 47 others were believed dead after their village was hit by a landslide.

Only 16 residents of the village of 63 people survived, the officials said.

“The worst has happened, an entire village has been wiped out,” said chief administrator Malini Premaratne of Ratnapura district, 60 miles southeast of the capital, Colombo.

About 150,000 people have fled their homes, Premaratne said. They are being housed in temples, schools and public buildings.

The flash floods hit the area late Saturday evening, when most residents had returned to their homes after celebrating a festival marking the birth of Buddha.

“Many were asleep when they were hit,” said Premaratne, who met with some of the survivors.

State-run Rupavahini Television showed many parts of Ratnapura town still under six to 10ft of water 24 hours after the flash floods hit the area. Many families were seen taking shelter in the upper floors of their homes.

Local volunteers made makeshift rafts out of car tubes and bamboo poles to rescue the elderly. Injured villagers, some with broken limbs, were evacuated to hospitals by other volunteers.

Ratnapura district, famed for its gem mines, is home to one million people.

Sri Lanka asked its neighbour, India, to send speed boats and experts to help victims of the floods.

Military forces joined in the rescue and relief operations. Air force helicopters dropped water bottles and bread, but not enough to meet the needs of all those affected, officials said.

The Sri Lankan Red Cross Society said the floods and landslides have left a “massive trail of destruction” and appealed for urgent help.

“We need food and shelter material,” said society member Ananda Lecamwasam.

Floods of this magnitude are rare in Sri Lanka, a small tropical island country off India’s southern coast.

Last week, a cyclone hit Sri Lanka, blowing roofs off houses, uprooting trees and leaving some streets in the capital under three feet of water. Since then it has been raining heavily in central and southern parts of the country, caused by a tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Sri Lanka usually experiences monsoon rains between late May and mid-September.