Flooding in Colombo. Renewed rains in Sri Lanka have flooded a large number of towns and villages and killed at least 13 people, officials said Saturday, 05 February 2011, cited by AFP. Heavy monsoon downpours have driven some 800,000 people out of their flooded homes and into state-run welfare centres or to stay with friends and relatives on higher ground, officials said. AFP / focus-fen.net

COLOMBO, 06 Feb 2011 (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s monsoon rains have spread to more villages and towns, leaving at least 14 people dead and more than one million with flooded homes, according to officials. The number of people in state-run shelters rose to 236,000 by Saturday evening, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) in Colombo said, adding that 1,053,000 people had had their homes inundated. Most of the flood victims had moved in with friends and relatives living on higher ground, officials said. Police figures showed that at least 14 people had been killed in flood-related incidents in the past week. The DMC said that roads and fields were submerged across the east, centre and north of the island — areas which had already been badly hit by an earlier wave of monsoon rains last month. Then, 43 people were killed and the number of people driven from their homes also passed one million. The latest flooding came after the United Nations issued an appeal for 51 million dollars in emergency aid to help people affected by last month’s floods.

One million Sri Lankans hit by floods, 14 dead

February 05, 2011 (AP) – Heavy rains pounded parts of Sri Lanka Saturday, causing widespread flooding. Authorities say at least five people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and taken refuge in camps.

Raw Video: Sri Lanka Hit by Deadly Flooding

ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka
Mon, Feb 7, 2011, 09:54 pm SL Time Feb 07, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife S.M. Chandrasena says that 300,000 acres of paddy cultivations were completely destroyed due to recent floods. Floods submerged 500,000 acres of paddy fields, damaged 458 big and small scale reservoirs, broke around 1,000 irrigation canals and bunds, the Minister said. Commissioner General of Agrarian Services Ravindra Hewavitharana said the 158 tanks in Anuradhapura District were damaged due to the torrential rains experienced last month. Renovation work on all damaged reservoirs and canals will commence after the flood waters recede, he said. Nine Agrarian Services Centers and seven fertilizer warehouses are also among the damaged property, he said. However, Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told media that no scarcity of rice will be experienced by the country although floods hit the paddy cultivation hard. He said the country has buffer rice stocks sufficient for eight months.

300,000 acres of paddy cultivations totally destroyed by floods in Sri Lanka