'Half a million flee homes' as Sri Lanka grapples with deadly floods, landslides
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-21/sri-lanka-flood-evacuations/7434068Posted yesterday at 10:21am
Residents walk through a flooded road in Kaduwela, Colombo
Photo: Sri Lankan residents walk through floodwaters in Kaduwela, Colombo. (Lakruwan Wanniarachchi: AFP)
Related Story: 37 dead, 150 more feared buried in Sri Lanka landslides
Related Story: 'No hope' of finding survivors in Sri Lanka landslide
Map: Sri Lanka
Severe flooding in Sri Lanka has forced half a million people to flee their homes across the island nation, officials say, as the death toll from days of torrential rain and landslides rose to more than 60.
Key points:
Officials say toll from floods, landslides rises to more than 60
Hopes fade for more than 130 people believed trapped under mud and rubble of two landslides
Hundreds of thousands shelter in camps as government seeks urgent foreign aid
The toll is likely to rise sharply as authorities battling muddy conditions begin to give up hope of reaching 132 people believed to be trapped under the landslides.
"I don't think there will be any survivors," Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, the officer in charge of the rescue operation, told Reuters.
"There are places where the mud level is up to 9 metres. We will keep going until we can recover the maximum."
The heaviest rains in a quarter of a century have pounded Sri Lanka since last weekend, ahead of the arrival of the south-west monsoon.
The worst-hit areas were in Colombo's north-eastern suburbs along the Kelani river, which began bursting its banks on Thursday evening.
Three people have been killed in flood-related incidents in Colombo but the national toll now stands at 64 dead and 29 injured.
The district of Kegalle, about 100 kilometres north-east of the capital, has been worst-hit, with the toll from two separate landslides rising to 34.
YouTube: Sri Lanka air force rescues flood victims
Sri Lanka seeks 'help for victims'
President Maithripala Sirisena urged people to provide shelter and donate cash or food as offers of assistance came in from overseas.
"We have already got some assistance from our friends in the international community," he said in a televised address.
"Now I want to ask private individuals, companies and non-governmental organisations to help in anyway you can to help the victims."
The national Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said 21 of Sri Lanka's 25 districts had been affected by flooding.
Around 300,000 people had been moved to shelters while a further 200,000 were staying with friends or family.
"Our information is that about half a million people have been driven out of their homes," Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told reporters.
The DMC said tens of thousands of people in the capital, Colombo, were evacuated in an operation led by the military, involving boats and helicopters.
Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said the Government had sought foreign aid in the form of motors, boats and water purifying tablets.
India said it was sending two naval ships and an aircraft loaded with emergency supplies, including medicine, tents and mobile toilets.
