ASIA/SRI LANKA - Floods, rains and roads cut off cause damage to about 20 000 people

Colombo (Agenzia Fides) - More than 6,000 people have been evacuated after the heavy rains and floods in some parts of Sri Lanka. According to experts, the local Disaster Management Center (DMC), victims will continue to increase and the alert for floods is progress in 10 of the 25 districts in the country: Galle, Matale, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Baticaloa, Hambantota, Moneragala and Kurunegala, where the water level continues to rise. According to the DMC, 6.312 people (1.791 families) are currently in 29 evacuation centers, mostly in schools and communities, after being forced to abandon their homes. So far the rains have affected about 20 000 people in six of the nine provinces of the country, where 600 homes have been destroyed or severely damaged. The largest number of deaths was recorded in Matale, in Central Sri Lanka. Access to the affected communities resumed after several roads remained impassable due to landslides. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 19/12/2012)