45 dead, thousands homeless from heavy Sri Lankan rains*

COLOMBO, Nov 21 (AFP) Nov 21, 2006

At least 45 people have died from floods and mudslides caused by heavy
seasonal rains in Sri Lanka that left 91,000 families temporarily
homeless, the National Disaster Management Centre said Monday.

The number of people drowned in the past three weeks was at 30 while 15
were buried alive in mudslides, N.D. Hettiarachchi, director of the
centre said.

"Most of the families have gone back to their homes, but heavy rains in
the past two days affected another 8,300 families who had to abandon
their homes and move to high ground," Hettiarachchi told AFP.

He said the government spent half a million dollars to provide immediate
relief to the affected people while about 2.7 million dollars would be
needed to rebuild the flood-damaged homes in the central and northwest
regions of the island.

The latest flooding is the worst natural disaster since the December
2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 31,000 people and displaced a
million people along much of the island's coastlines.

Sri Lanka depends on monsoon rains for farming as well as for power
generation. However, the seasonal rains also cause property damage and
loss of life in low-lying areas.

The two main monsoon seasons in Sri Lanka are from May to September and
December to February and rains also lash different parts of the island
between October and November and again between March and April.