- Title: Rescue operations continue after deadly floods in Sri Lanka
- Date: 22nd May 2016
- Summary: COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (MAY 22, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RESCUE BOAT GOING THROUGH FLOODED STREET VARIOUS OF WOMAN BEEN CARRIED OUT OF BOAT VARIOUS OF WOMAN IN WHEEL CHAIR VARIOUS OF ARMY AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE COMING THROUGH FLOOD WATERS (SOUNDBITE) (Sinhala) FLOOD VICTIM, RENUKA, SAYING: "We have been in this camp since Tuesday. My house is completely under water. We have left my mother in another place and I am here with my brothers. We are getting food and drinks here." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GOING THROUGH FLOOD WATER VARIOUS OF FLOODED HOUSES (SOUNDBITE) (Sinhala) FLOOD VICTIM, JINADASA, SAYING: "The flood waters have been receding. But not enough for us to return home." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PUSHING A MOTOR CYCLE THROUGH FLOODS VARIOUS OF FLOODED HOUSES VARIOUS OF STRANDED PEOPLE BEEN RESCUED VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LIVING ON HIGHER FLOORS BEEN GIVEN FOOD PACKETS RESCUE BOAT TRAVELLING ALONG FLOODED STREET
- Embargoed: 6th June 2016 10:28
- Keywords: floods landslide Colombo rescue operations water
- Location: COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
- City: COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
- Country: Sri Lanka
- Topics: Environment,Weather
- Reuters ID: LVA0014IW2KHX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Rescue operations continued in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Sunday (May 22), on the sixth day of deadly floods, as water levels began to recede.
Days of torrential rains have led to the deaths of 82 people and have forced more than 242,000 people from their homes across the South Asian island nation, official data showed. Most of them are from the capital Colombo where the Kalani river broke its banks.
The government deployed the armed forces and hundreds of boats to rescue people trapped in their houses and to provide people still in their homes with supplies.
Hundreds of thousands of people queued up to make donations to the affected as dozens of media organizations and civil groups launched public appeals for cooked food, bottled water, dry rations and cloths.
118 people are still reported missing buried in mud after two separate landslides.
Flooding and drought are cyclical in Sri Lanka, which is battered by a southern monsoon between May and September, while a northeastern monsoon runs from December to February. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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