Death toll from Sri Lanka floods and landslides rises to 334: Disaster agency

• Over 15,000 homes were destroyed, sending 78,000 to shelters.
• The army rescues 69 bus passengers, including a German tourist.
• The government is appealing for international aid to support the communities.

The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 334 on Sunday, Sri Lanka’s disaster agency said on Sunday, with many others missing.

It is the worst natural disaster to hit the island in two decades, and officials said the extent of the damage in the worst-hit central area was only being revealed as aid workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

The Disaster Management Center (DMC) said the death toll had risen to 334, up from 212 earlier on Sunday, with nearly 400 missing and more than 1.3 million people across the island affected by the record rainfall.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who declared a state of emergency to deal with the disaster, vowed to rebound with international support.

“We are facing the largest and most demanding natural disaster in our history,” he said in an address to the nation. “Certainly, we will build a better nation than the one that existed before.”

The losses and damage are the worst since the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami that killed an estimated 31,000 people and left more than a million homeless.

The rain had eased across Sri Lanka, but low-lying areas of the capital were flooded on Sunday and authorities are preparing for a major relief operation.

A Bell 212 helicopter carrying food for patients stranded at a hospital just north of Colombo crashed into a river on Sunday afternoon. All five crew members were taken to a nearby hospital.

Another helicopter sent from India rescued 24 people on Sunday, including a pregnant woman and a man in a wheelchair, in the central town of Kotmale, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of Colombo, officials said.

Pakistan has also sent rescue teams, the Sri Lankan Air Force said, while Japan will also send a team to assess Sri Lanka’s immediate needs and has promised help.

The air force said two infants and a 10-year-old child were also rescued from a hospital in the northern city of Chilaw, which sank on Saturday.

Authorities said flood levels in the capital would take at least a day to recede, while dry weather was also forecast. Cyclone Ditwah moved north towards India on Saturday.

“Totally flooded”

Selvi, 46, a resident of the Colombo suburb of Wennawatte, left her flooded home on Sunday, carrying four bags of clothes and valuables.

“My house is completely flooded. I don’t know where to go, but I hope there is some safe haven where I can take my family,” he told AFP.

Receding water levels in the town of Manampitiya, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Colombo, revealed massive destruction.

“Manabithiya is a flood-prone town, but I have never seen such a volume of water before,” said 72-year-old resident S. Shivanandan.

He told the local News Center portal that businesses and properties have been extensively damaged. A car had overturned in front of his shop, he said.

A woman in central Wellawaya said she heard a loud noise and went outside to see boulders coming down a mountainside before stopping near her home.

“I saw trees falling and boulders moving. We are afraid to return to our homes,” he told reporters after moving to a shelter on safer ground.

The deadliest in years

The National Blood Transfusion Service said supplies were low even though there were relatively few injuries.

The worst floods since the turn of the century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.