Prevailing severe showery weather pushes people into difficulties

“Over 47,000 people have been severely affected due to inclement weather conditions. A total of seven deaths and 15 injuries have been reported due to bad weather. 2,335 people from 621 families have been placed in temporary safety shelters. The prevailing showery and windy conditions in Sri Lanka are expected to continue further, due to the active South West Monsoonal conditions” according to the Department of Meteorology.

“People should be alert and take precautions to face the current weather conditions that sometimes can not be predicted”, said the Department of Meteorology.

Across 18 districts, nine affected provinces are Sabaragamuwa, Northern, Western, Southern, North Western, Central, North Central, Uva, and Eastern.

Showers will occur at times in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, and Southern provinces. Several spells of showers will occur in the North-western province today.

Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Western and Sabaragamuwa province and Nuwara-Eliya district. Showers or thundershowers will occur at a few places in the Uva province and Ampara and Batticaloa districts in the evening or night” said the Department of Meteorology.

Strong winds of about 50-60 kmph can be expected at times over the Western slopes of the central hills and in North-central, Western, Southern, and North-western provinces and Trincomalee and Monaragala districts.

Meanwhile, Naval and fishing communities are advised not to venture into the sea areas extending from Kankasanthurai to Pottuvil via Mannar, Colombo, Galle, and Hambantota, until further notice and be vigilant in the other sea areas around the island.

The sea areas around the island will be rough or very rough today due to the active south-west monsoonal condition, said the Met Department.

Accordingly, Wave heights may increase to about 2.5 m – 3.5 m in the sea areas off the coast, extending from Kalpitiya to Pottuvil via Colombo, Galle, and Hambantota and, therefore, there is a possibility that nearshore sea areas extending from Kalpitiya to Matara via Colombo and Galle, may experience surges, said the Met Department.

Meanwhile, the people of Maikkulama village in Chilaw in the Puttalam district, which is under flood for most of the year, blame the government officials and politicians.

“No one comes to see us. We face floods two or three times a year. Everyone in the village went and protested on the highway asking for solutions. I must say that we told the officials, but no one gave us relief”.

“Even the village officer does not come to see this pathetic situation. We have no food. No drinking water. We have been under flood for three weeks now.” told Mojo News Sulochani and Parameshwarn.

“Ever since the rains started, all the roads have been flooded. This would not happen to us if the drainage systems were properly designed and constructed” Chandana Costa told Mojo News.

Parameshwaran further said that 300-500 families have faced a lot of trouble due to floods caused by heavy rains.

There are little babies. There are sick people. I am a heart patient. But you can’t stay at home comfortably. Water was put inside the house. The toilet overflowed. In near future, various diseases will occur. The rain caused the flood. We were overwhelmed by the flood. Because of that disaster, we are getting sicker and sicker.

Parameshwaran further said that 300-500 families have faced a lot of trouble due to floods caused by heavy rains.

“We can’t stop the rain. But we can stop the floods by giving solutions. The authorities should do that.”

About 30 families are living in the estate called Chilaw Malwatta and they all are doing odd jobs. During the rainy season, all the houses got flooded. A nearby lake is overflowing with Japanese hibiscus, and local residents claim that the lake overflows with water during the rainy season and floods their houses due to a lack of cleaning.

They said that only during elections, do politicians make promises to meet the people, and when they look at their flooded houses, they can understand that the promises made earlier are false.

END.