EXTREME WEATHER : Uprooted Trees disrupt traffic; one death reported in Habaraduwa

by Zulfick Farzan 06-09-2020 | 7:37 PM

Colombo (News 1st); An uprooted tree fell on to a bus close to De Fonseka Road in Bambalapitiya on Sunday (06th) evening completely disrupting the movement of traffic on Duplication.

Further, vehicular movement along the Colombo - Negombo main road was completely disrupted after tree uprooted and fell across all lanes close to Katunayake.

In addition, a tree had also up rooted in Braybrooke Place, Colombo 02 disrupting the movement traffic.

The National Building Research Organization issued landslide early warnings for the Colombo, Galle, Kalutara, Kegalle and Ratnapura districts.

The Disaster Management Center said the prevailing showery condition is expected to continue further adding heavy rainfalls above 150 mm are likely at some places.

Wind speed can increase up to (50-60) kmph at times across the island.

General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity and localized strong winds during thundershowers.

The Department of Fisheries warned fishermen to refrain from setting out to sea until noon on Monday (07th) due to strong winds in the seas surrounding Sri Lanka.

The Met Department said wind speeds in the sea area could increase to 70 kmph.

On a tragic note, a 59-year-old woman from Habaraduwa was crushed to death after a tree uprooted and fell on to her during a torrential downpour accompanied by gale winds.

Further, floods were also reported from many areas in the country, including Colombo, Galle and Hali-Ela.