Sri Lanka: Over 80 dead as Cyclone Ditwah leaves trail of destruction

Sri Lanka on Friday grappled with one of its worst disasters as cyclonic storm Ditwah wreaked havoc causing floods and landslides that left more than 80 dead amid a trail of destruction and damage to infrastructureIndia launched Operation Sagar Bandhu to assist Sri Lanka in its hour of crisis and the first tranche of relief materials was handed over after the consignments were transported by the Indian Navys aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and frontline ship INS Udaigiri to the island nationThe relief came as Sri Lankan authorities warned of an unprecedented disaster situation in the Western Province from Friday night due to rising water levels in the Kelani and Attanagalu riversBoth Colombo and the next most populous district of Gampaha are under severe threat prompting officials to urge residents in vulnerable areas to evacuate they saidLate on Friday the Disaster Management Centre DMC confirmed more than 80 people have died while 34 remain missing in the past three days as rescue operations intensify according to news portal NewsFirstlkThe DMC said as many as 148603 individuals from 44192 families were suffering due to widespread flooding while 5024 families approximately 14000 people had taken shelter in 195 emergency centresScores of houses were destroyed completely or partially leaving thousands homeless as Cyclone Ditwah unleashed torrential rainfall triggering extensive flooding landslides in central hill regions and major disruptions in other parts that have left several areas inaccessibleIt is unlikely this situation will change We expect the Kelani Rivers water levels to exceed those recorded during the 2016 floods Director General Ajith Gunasekara told reportersHe urged residents in vulnerable locations to secure essential items including educational certificates vehicle documents and valuables before relocating to safer groundThe central Matale district recorded the highest rainfall in the 24 hours ending 6 am Thursday receiving 540 mm authorities saidThree major bridges Moragahakanda Main Bridge Elahera Bridge and Kumara Ella Bridge were washed away cutting off vital transport routes and isolating communities in Matale Polonnaruwa Kurunegala and Uva provinces all routes crucial for trade agriculture and relief convoysThe disaster management officials said that the severity of the weather has significantly hindered the ability of officials to reach affected sites or carry out onground assessments and rescue effortsThe Irrigation Department issued a further warning that the Kelani river is approaching historically high flood levels posing a severe risk to Colombo and surrounding areas for the next two days the news portal saidSevere weather has also caused widespread power outages affecting 25 to 30 per cent of the regionTwo major hydropower plants Kotmale and Rantambe were shut down after a power cable failure said Shirley Kumara general manager of the Ceylon Electricity BoardAs of 530 pm Friday the cyclonic storm Ditwah lay centred about 40 kilometres westnorthwest of Trincomalee in eastern Sri Lanka officials said adding it was moving northnorthwest dumping massive rainfallThe Indian High Commission in a statement said New Delhi has so far provided 45 tonnes of dry rations and 2 tonnes of fresh rations including staple foods packaged and readytoeat items dairy and bakery products beverages and other nutritional essentialsAdditional survival supplies have also been handed over it saidMeanwhile the National Building Research Organisation NBRO described the current situation as extraordinary and unprecedented and warned that landslides could occur at any moment in any mountainous region due to the prevailing severe weather conditionsThe director of the NBROs Landslide Research Division told local media that landslides can occur when rainfall exceeds 150 mm within 24 hours Several mountainous areas have already received more than 500 mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours he said on Friday afternoonThe total rainfall during the past 10 days is close to 1000 mm This situation is unlike anything we have ever experienced he saidEarlier in the day a diplomatic briefing was held at the Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriyas office and attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha HerathThe Colombobased Heads of Mission were updated on the Sri Lankan governments ongoing emergency flood relief operations and recovery measures and they were told that the government has designated an officer to handle inquiries regarding foreign tourists affected by the current disaster situation according to the PMs OfficeAccording to local media several important examinations were postponed due to the precarious flood situation authorities announcedIn response to the disaster caused by Cyclone Ditwah President Dissanayake invoked powers under the Essential Public Services Act declaring a wide range of services as essential to the life of the community reeling under severe adverse weather conditionsThese services include electricity supply supply or distribution of petroleum products fuel including gas hospitals water supply and public transportAll longdistance express intercity and night mail trains on every railway line were cancelled with several train services resuming on Friday evening only within the Western Province according to railway authoritiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever