President Mahinda Rajapaksa instructed officials to reconstruct the houses destroyed by floods and landslides with the assistance of Army personnel.
The President who postponed his election propaganda work, visited Anuradhapura and Badulla yesterday and Saturday to inspect the relief measures to the flood and landslide affected people.
A Disaster Management Centre (DMC) spokesman said about 4,571 houses were totally damaged while another 14,511 houses were partially damaged due to inclement weather.
He said immediate relief measures are continuing with the coordination of the DMC, Tri-Forces personnel, District Secretaries, other regional stakeholders and voluntary organizations. The spokesman said 23 lives were lost, eight persons were missing and nine persons were injured during the past 11 days due to inclement weather.
He said 115,658 people belonging to 33,398 families had been provided temporary shelter at 576 evacuation camps as at yesterday.
The spokesman said over one million people in 22 districts were affected by floods, heavy rains, high winds and landslides during the past 11 days.
The DMC Situation Report yesterday stated that 1,016,395 people belonging to 281,006 families in the Mannar, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Jaffna, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Badulla, Monaragala, Kegalle, Gampaha, Colombo, Matara and Hambantota Districts had been affected by inclement weather.
Eight bodies were recovered in the Rilpola Haliela landslide affected area in Badulla and another seven persons are still missing.
People in Ampara and Batticaloa were severely affected by floods. In Batticaloa, 493,879 people in 14 District Secretariat Divisions have been affected, while 29,800 people among them were evacuated to 112 camps.
Meanwhile, 4,122 houses were totally damaged and another 8,387 houses were partially damaged. In Ampara, 288,176 people in 20 District Secretariat Divisions were affected, while 11,750 people among them were provided shelter in 26 camps.
Meanwhile, the water levels in all reservoirs and tanks were rising sharply, while spill gates of many reservoirs were opened. The DMC spokesman urged the people to be vigilant as the water level of the Kelani River could also rise due to opening of two spill gates of Castlereigh.
Many areas including the Anuradhapura scared premises had been inundated due to the opening of spill gates.
Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa road at Manampitiya, Somawathiya-Sungavila, Welimada- Atampitiya, Puttlam-Mannar road via Silavathurai and Trincomalee-Batticaloa road at Verugal had been closed while Puttalam-Chilaw road had been opened only for light vehicles due to adverse weather conditions.
About 20,884 people were affected in Anuradhapura and 26 relief centres were set up to provide shelter to about 3,000 people. About 21,717 people were affected in Polonnaruwa and 40 relief centres set up to provide shelter to about 7,954 people among them.
NBRO officials requested the people in Matale, Kandy, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya to be watchful on the possibility of landslide and cut slope failures if the rain continues.
Meanwhile, the Meteorology Department Early Warning Centre issuing a Severe Weather Advisory yesterday said the low pressure area was still persisting to the east of Pottuvil.
“It is expected to move northwards affecting the weather of the country and surrounding sea area. Under the influence of the system, showers or thunder showers will occur over most parts of the country particularly in the Eastern, Northern, North central, North, Western, Central and Uva provinces. Heavy falls (more than 100 mm) are also likely at some places. Strong winds (up to 40-60 Km/hr) can be expected at times over the island and over the sea areas around the island. There may be temporary localized strong winds (up to 80 Km/hr) during thundershowers,” it stated.
The highest rainfall of 103.5 mm had been reported from Passikuda Estate in Batticaloa during the 24 hours ended at 8.30 a.m. on Sunday.
The Police requested the motorists to be careful when driving due to mist.
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