Sri Lanka battered by heavy rains

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Heavy rainfall was experienced in several parts of the country this evening (October 24) The Met Department notes that heavy showers were experienced in the Central Hills, Kandy, Matale, Badulla, Monaragala, Kurunegala, Ratnapura, Katunayake, Mattala, and other areas.

Delpathkada

The inhabitants of six homes in Delpathkada, Hanguranketha were evacuated today due to the risk of landslides. News 1st correspondent reported that three homes were destroyed by landslides in the area while another three were damaged. 19 displaced persons are being sheltered at the Delpathkada Community Hall.

Horamadulla-Boowella

Extreme weather felled a large Nuga tree onto the Rikillagaskada-Delthota road in the Horamadulla-Boowella area. This affected the flow of traffic on the road from about 11.45 pm yesterday to 10.00 am today. News 1st correspondent noted that a house in the vicinity and a parked car were damaged when the tree wfell.

Ella-Wellawaya 

As heavy rains persisted an area close to the 25th-kilometer post on the Ella-Wellawaya road had collapsed.

Rajanganaya reservoir 

All spillway gates of the Rajanganaya reservoir were opened by two feet each last evening due to the heavy rainfall. Two of the spillway gates are still open, releasing 1200 cubic feet of water per second to the Kala Oya.

Parakrama Samudraya

Irrigation authorities also took steps to open six spill gates of the Parakarama Samudraya by a foot each. The reservoir is releasing 560 cubic feet of water per second, into the Mahaweli river.

Pahala Kadugannawa 

The Kegalle and Kandy District Secretariats have decided to cut down trees along the Colombo-Kandy road in Pahala Kadugannwa, that may pose a threat, from 9.00 am tomorrow (October 25) Motorists have been requested to travel to Kandy via Ambepussa and Kurunegala, Karadupana and Rambukkana or Mawanella, Hemmathagama and Gampola. The District Secretariats say that this step is being taken to mitigate the risk of disasters given the extreme weather conditions. The Met Department has forecasted that showers or thundershowers will occur from today until the day after tomorrow. It is being forecasted that parts of the Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces and the Galle and Matara districts will receive heavy rainfall of between 100 and 150 millimetres. Meanwhile, SriLankan Airlines Flight UL504 en route from Bangkok to Colombo was diverted to Mattala Airport due to adverse weather conditions in Colombo.\