30 dead, one mn hit by Sri Lanka floods

Colombo, Dec 29 (IANS/EFE) At least 30 people have died, six are missing and about a million more were affected by floods in Sri Lanka caused by non-stop rains since Friday, an official said Monday.

"At this moment, we have 30 dead and six missing, and we have 33,346 families displaced as a result of the rain in 626 localities," Anthony Milroy of Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre said.

He said the heavy rainfall had subsided in the southern part of the country, but continued to pour down on the northeastern part, the region most affected by flood.

Milroy said about 100,000 people have been displaced by the rain and about a million have been otherwise affected, but he was unable to provide any details about relief efforts underway.

According to reports, several roads were blocked and communications were affected in practically the entire country.

Authorities have evacuated Mutur and Somapura, in Koddiyar Bay, in northeastern part of the country.

Sri Lanka commemorated Friday the 10th anniversary of the tsunami that devastated a considerable part of the country, leaving over 35,000 people dead and over another 5,000 missing.

This year, the Sri Lankan government selected the theme "Safety Sri Lanka -- let us unite to eradicate disasters" on National Safety Day, which has been an annual event held Dec 26 since 2006.

--IANS/EFE

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