Colombo, 11 January, (Asiantribune.com):
This is slated to be worse than the Cyclone of 1978, which devastated the low-lying district of Batticaloa and displaced nearly one million persons.
Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told media recent flooding were the worst experienced in the districts of Batticaloa and Ampara since 1913.
Sri Lanka Air Force has already deployed Bell 212 helicopters to rescue those stranded in Batticaloa and Ampara and so far 24 persons had been rescued.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka Army has mobilised nearly 1,000 troops to assist rescue and relief efforts.
Provincial education authorities in the flood-affected Eastern, Central and North Central ordered all schools in the provinces to close until next Monday.
National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) alerted the public that hill country districts such as Kandy and Nuwar Eliya were highly vulnerable to landslides.
Disaster Management Center said so far heavy rains have affected over 758,000 people island-wide while floods and landslide have claimed nine lives mainly in the hill capital of Kandy.
According to Asian Disaster Reduction Center ADRC?the 1978 cyclone alone affected more than one million people, killed nearly a thousand persons, partially and completely damaged nearly 250,000 houses, destroyed 90 percent of the coconut plantation in the Batticaloa district and resulted in the government having to spend over Rs.600 million to bring immediate relief to those affected.
Also cyclones and floods of severe intensity struck Sri Lanka in 1922, 1931 and 1964. Cyclone of 1978 incurred damages amounting to nearly 3.78 percent of the GDP while floods of 1992 caused losses close to 1.03 percent of the GDP.
- Asian Tribune -
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/01/10/sri-lanka-recent-flooding-causes-rs-30-billion-loss
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