Situation:
Heavy rainfall that continued over a week which started from 19 December has caused flash floods in 22 districts in 9 provinces (Sabaragamuwa, Uva, Eastern, Southern, Western, Central, North-Central, Northern and North-Western) in Sri Lanka. By 31 December 2014, 1 124 661 individuals from 312 726 families were affected. There were 6 429 fully damaged houses and 18 560 partially damaged houses. Around 61 078 individuals had to stay in 661 evacuation centers in affected areas. The number of deaths from the floods was 39. Nineteen 19 deaths occurred in Badulla district of Uva province while there were 2 persons missing due to the disaster situation.
There has been no reported outbreak of communicable diseases. The Ministry of Health along with the Regional Directors of Health Services and the hospitals in respective affected areas provided the basic health needs of the affected communities.
WHO support:
The WHO Country Office continued monitoring the changing situation in collaboration with the Disaster Preparedness and Response Division (DPRD) of the Ministry of Health. Emergency response funds in the amount of USD30 000 have been provided through the South East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) of WHO SEARO.
As requested by the Ministry of Health, WHO has provided the following:
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Hygiene kits (500)
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Chlorine tablets (50,000)
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Larvicide (Temiphos)
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Emergency supplies
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Funding support for logistics for health staff
WHO will continuously monitor the situation and provide support to the Ministry of Health. Discussions are on-going as to further strengthening efforts for preparedness in the health sector.
Updates:
There were daily weather updates issued from the Department of Meteorology and the landslide warnings issued by the National Building Research Organization. Daily updated data on affected population in respective districts are available on Disaster Management Center website.
Current Status:
There are 56 evacuation centers activated and there are 4443 individuals still staying in the centers. However, as forecasted by the Department of Meteorology, mainly fair weather condition will prevail across the country.
Source of information: Disaster Management Center updates (http://www.dmc.gov.lk)