- Bay of Bengal depression moving to Western sea area
- Central Province battered by rain on Christmas Day
- Vehicles seen floating in flood water
- Two killed by rock slip in Akurana
The atmospheric depression over the Southwest Bay of Bengal, which entered through the East Coast of Sri Lanka and moved across the country over the weekend, is likely to move to the Western sea area of Sri Lanka today (26), the Department of Meteorology said yesterday (25).
Accordingly, showers or thunder showers will occur at times over the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, North-Western and Northern provinces, it noted. Heavy showers above 100mm can be expected at some places in the above areas and several spells of showers will occur elsewhere.
Strong gusty winds of about 40-50 kmph can be expected at times over the country.
The Department of Meteorology requested the general public to take adequate precautions to minimise damage caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during such thundershowers.
The heavy rainfall brought about by the atmospheric depression wreaked havoc in several parts of the island. The Central Province was the worst hit, with vehicles seen floating in intensely flooded areas, and Akurana being severely affected.
The Kandy, Matale, and Badulla districts saw rainfall exceeding 100 mm, while the Kurunegala, Batticaloa, and Ampara districts had also received considerable amounts of rainfall as of yesterday morning.
Two youths including a female were reported dead and another injured after a rock slip buried their house in Dunuwila, Akurana. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) stated that there had been five individuals inside the house at the time of the incident.
Disaster Management Centre Director Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Sudantha Ranasinghe stated that the two youths who had died from the incident are identified to be aged 16 and 18 years, and are siblings from the same family.
The Police had initially managed to rescue the injured persons by removing the rock and soil with the support of residents in the area. There, the mother, father, two girls, and a boy were rescued from under the rubble and rushed to the Jambugahapitiya Hospital. However one of the girls (aged 18) and the boy (aged 16) succumbed to their injuries.
Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl who was injured during the incident has been transferred to the Peradeniya Hospital, Maj. Gen. Ranasinghe said.
As a result of the flooding, the train services from Kandy were suspended, as the Kandy Railway Station was flooded, with the rail tracks completely submerged. The night mail trains from Colombo Fort to Badulla and from Badulla to Colombo Fort were also cancelled.
Vehicular movement in the Third Milepost area on the Mawanella-Gampola road via Hemmathagama was completely disrupted due to an earth slip at around 8 a.m. last morning. As a result, the Police diverted a number of vehicles traveling on the route.
Ten irrigation reservoirs including Rajanganaya and Yan Oya reached their spill level, according to Irrigation Department Director (Water Management) D. Abesiriwardhana. Six sluice gates of Deduru Oya reservoir were opened, since the upper catchment areas of the reservoir have received a rainfall of 150 mm.
The Yan Oya reservoir in Anuradhapura district was slightly overflowing, while two sluice gates of Rajanganaya Reservoir were opened, which released a slight amount of excess water out to low-lying areas.