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| Floods and Landslides in Sri Lanka Leave Dozens Dead | Floods and Landslides in Sri Lanka Leave Dozens Dead |
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| COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — At least 34 people were killed in landslides and flash floods and hundreds of thousands were displaced, Sri Lankan officials said on Wednesday, as torrential rains and gusting winds continued to lash the country just days after the beginning of the monsoon season. | COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — At least 34 people were killed in landslides and flash floods and hundreds of thousands were displaced, Sri Lankan officials said on Wednesday, as torrential rains and gusting winds continued to lash the country just days after the beginning of the monsoon season. |
| Rescue workers recovered at least 15 bodies from two major landslides in the Kegalle district, about 75 miles east of the capital, Colombo, said Pradeep Kodippili, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Center of Sri Lanka. Officials said the death toll from the flooding was likely to rise. | Rescue workers recovered at least 15 bodies from two major landslides in the Kegalle district, about 75 miles east of the capital, Colombo, said Pradeep Kodippili, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Center of Sri Lanka. Officials said the death toll from the flooding was likely to rise. |
| One of the landslides buried three villages in the mountainous region of Aranayake, claiming at least 14 lives, with 134 people still missing and feared dead, said Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe, the commanding officer in charge of the rescue operation. | |
| “Military personnel and medics are still digging through the rubble from the mudslide to find survivors despite the risk of further landslides in the area,” General Ranasinghe said. | |
| Earlier, the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society had said that 200 families remained unaccounted for after the Aranayake landslide, though Mr. Kodippili said the government was unable to confirm that figure. | |
| President Maithripala Sirisena visited the area on Wednesday and said the government’s priority was locating the missing and providing relief and shelter to the displaced. “Later,” he added, “we will start talking about compensation and rebuilding.” | |
| While little is known about what happened in the landslide areas, Red Cross officials said they had heard complaints from residents in the affected villages that the country’s disaster management agencies had failed to issue any alerts or evacuation warnings. | |
| “The Disaster Management Center does not have the resources and manpower to go door to door in the endangered areas,” said Mahieash Johnney, a senior manager at the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. “It relies on getting these messages across to residents at risk from landslides, by using loudspeakers and megaphones. These warnings don’t always get transmitted in time.” | |
| Meteorologists had predicted a stronger-than-average monsoon season in Sri Lanka this year, the effects of a waning El Niño. Though the tropical island nation in the Indian Ocean frequently experiences intense monsoons and flooding, this year’s devastation was unusually fierce for so early in the rainy season. | |
| The Sri Lanka Meteorological Department said that a deep low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal that had become a tropical depression by Wednesday had caused the rains, but that it was moving away from the island. | The Sri Lanka Meteorological Department said that a deep low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal that had become a tropical depression by Wednesday had caused the rains, but that it was moving away from the island. |
| The Sri Lanka Red Cross was managing one of at least four camps near the Aranayake landslide to provide relief to survivors, Mr. Johnney said. | |
| The Red Cross said 19 of Sri Lanka’s 25 districts had experienced flash flooding, a result of ceaseless rains across most parts of the island since Monday. | The Red Cross said 19 of Sri Lanka’s 25 districts had experienced flash flooding, a result of ceaseless rains across most parts of the island since Monday. |
| Three hundred members of the military were deployed, including elite commandos, medics and detection dogs, in a huge rescue operation to find survivors in Aranayake early on Wednesday. Thirteen bodies were recovered from the rubble, a military spokesman said, adding that most of the victims had been buried in their homes by the mudslide Tuesday night. | Three hundred members of the military were deployed, including elite commandos, medics and detection dogs, in a huge rescue operation to find survivors in Aranayake early on Wednesday. Thirteen bodies were recovered from the rubble, a military spokesman said, adding that most of the victims had been buried in their homes by the mudslide Tuesday night. |
| By early Wednesday morning, the Disaster Management Center had recorded 23 injuries related to flash flooding in the southwestern parts of the island. The government shut down schools in two of the worst-affected provinces. Some parts of Colombo also suffered flooding. |