The heaviest rains in 1 / 4 of a century have pounded Sri Lanka since final weekend, triggering large landslides which have buried some victims in as much as 50 ft (15 metres) of mud.
The variety of individuals lacking now stands at 127.
Residents clung to ropes as they battled to cross torrents of water pulsing by way of the streets of the flooded capital Colombo, with some pressured to take shelter in rickshaws.
India has despatched a army aircraft carrying emergency provides to Colombo whereas Japan has additionally rushed in assist on a business flight, the Sri Lankan overseas ministry stated.
The Indian authorities has offered inflatable boats, outboard motors, diving gear, medical provides, electrical energy turbines and sleeping luggage, officers stated.
Two Indian naval ships have been additionally anticipated shortly on the port within the capital whereas Australia and the USA have made money donations to assist the victims.
Floodwater ranges in elements of the capital subsided barely in a single day, officers stated, however heavy downpours on Saturday prevented many from shifting again to their houses on the banks of the Kelani river.
“Colombo didn’t obtain any vital rain final night time and the water ranges of the Kelani went down barely,” Catastrophe Administration Centre spokesman Pradeep Kodippili advised AFP.
“However there have been showers upstream and we’re nervous that the water ranges can rise once more in a day.”
Almost 300,000 individuals have been staying in about 500 state-run aid centres on Saturday, which additionally marks Vesak, a Buddhist vacation.
The nation’s influential Buddhist clergy urged the trustworthy to divert no less than half of the cash spent on vacation celebrations to assist flood victims.
“There are many individuals who have misplaced their houses, some have solely the garments they’re sporting,” prime Buddhist monk Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana stated.
“Contemplate this your meritorious deed to rejoice Vesak.”
Vesak celebrations have been muted Saturday in Colombo and elsewhere in comparison with earlier years when your complete metropolis was adorned with lanterns and colored lights.
Sri Lanka’s navy and the air pressure operated boats in a number of the worst-hit areas, ferrying individuals to shelters and taking meals to these stranded, officers stated.
President Maithripala Sirisena urged Sri Lankans to offer shelter and donate money or meals to flood victims as gives of help got here in from abroad.
Officers stated there had been an enormous outpouring of sympathy for victims with donations of meals, clothes and dry rations.
The DMC stated 22 of Sri Lanka’s 25 districts had been affected. Round 300,000 individuals have been moved to shelters whereas an extra 200,000 have been staying with buddies or household.
The meteorological division says the rains have been brought on by a melancholy within the Bay of Bengal, forward of the arrival of the southwest monsoon.
Virtually a 3rd of individuals had been moved from the low-mendacity capital, which has a inhabitants of about 650,000.
The district of Kegalle, about one hundred kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Colombo, has been the worst hit, with the toll from two separate landslides rising to 39.