Heavy rains on Friday triggered fresh landslide warnings in Sri Lanka’s central hill country, the area hit hardest by flooding and mudslides after Cyclone Ditwah, as the national death toll climbed to 607.
The National Building Research Organisation said continuous rain has soaked the already unstable hills. The agency warned that rainfall in the past 24 hours passed 150 millimeters and urged residents in high-risk areas to evacuate if the downpour continues.
The latest rains came with the start of the monsoon season. While some floodwaters have begun to recede, the Disaster Management Centre said more than two million people have now been affected nationwide. The number of people still missing was lowered from 341 to 214, with many of the previously unaccounted-for now believed to have died in mudslides.
About 150,000 people remain in government-run shelters, down from a peak of 225,000 as conditions improve in and around Colombo.
Record rainfall caused widespread flooding and landslides, which President Anura Kumara Dissanayake called the most difficult natural disaster the island has ever faced. Speaking in parliament Friday, he said his government has asked the International Monetary Fund to delay a planned Dec. 15 release of $347 million from a $2.9 billion bailout program. He said Sri Lanka needs time to negotiate a larger payment because the disaster has worsened the country’s economic situation.
New landslide warnings were issued Friday for areas not previously listed as high risk. Authorities have told residents in unstable hillside regions not to return home, even if their houses were not damaged.
In the central town of Gampola, residents and volunteers worked to clear thick mud and repair damaged homes.
“It takes 10 men a whole day to clean one house,” said a volunteer named Rinas. Muslim cleric Faleeldeen Qadiri said volunteers from nearby areas have arrived to help with the cleanup effort.
