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Over 30,000 people have been displaced and more than 300,000 affected by a second wave of flooding in eastern Sri Lanka in less than a month, aid officials say.
“The same districts that were hit the last time - Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa - have been experiencing heavy rains in the past few days,” Pradeep Kodippili, assistant director of the country’s Disaster Management Centre, the main government body overseeing relief efforts, told IRIN on 4 February.
Floods in mid-January displaced over 380,000 and affected over one million at their height, prompting the UN and its partners to launch a US$51 million appeal in support of the government.
Worst affected this time was Batticaloa District, said Tissa Abeyawickrema, head of the Sri Lankan Red Cross Society. “We are already distributing cooked food and rations among 100,000 in the district,” he said. The organization was deploying more personnel and seeking more assistance as the situation looked likely to deteriorate, he added.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
