Floods in Sri Lanka Leave Half a Million Displaced

Massive floods in Sri Lanka have so far resulted in 151 deaths and displaced more than half a million people.

According to the New York Times, the Sri Lankan government, after assessing the damage caused by massive floods and mudslides resulting from them, announced on Sunday that approximately half a million people have been displaced by these floods.

Sri Lanka’s Crisis Management Center announced on Sunday, June 7, that as a result of the flooding in recent days, 151 people have been killed and 112 are missing. The country’s officials estimate that more than 1,800 houses have been damaged and approximately 442,000 people have been displaced from their homes.

According to the New York Times, some cities have been submerged under five and a half meters of water, and around two thousand people have been evacuated from their homes in flood-affected areas by rescue teams and transferred to safe locations.

Sri Lankan authorities have also asked residents along the banks of the country’s three main rivers to evacuate these areas.

Lieutenant General Sudantha Ranasinghe, who oversees the Sri Lankan Army’s relief operations and rescue activities, says the main danger has passed and water levels are receding.

An Indian naval vessel also arrived in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, on Saturday with a medical team and supplies to assist the country’s military in rescue operations.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday asked the United Nations and neighboring countries to assist the country’s military and relief forces in search and rescue operations.

Source: Voice of America