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Highlights
With the start of the Southwest monsoon on 25 May 2017, Sri Lanka has received heavy rainfall in its Southern and Western regions, with some parts getting over 500mm of rainfall. Flash floods and landslides have affected over 471,542 people and displaced over 100,000 people as of 29 May 2017.
So far 169 deaths have been reported and 112 people are still missing. The Government is prioritizing search and rescue, and evacuation and management of safe locations for the rapidly increasing number of displaced people.
• The Government of Sri Lanka had not yet declared a national emergency. However, on 27 May 2017, the Government requested UN assistance to provide relief for the disaster-affected people through the mobilization of international technical teams for search and rescue as well as relief items.
• Since the onset of the Southwest monsoon, UNICEF is leading emergency response coordination for the humanitarian community, providing regular updates as the situation evolves. In addition, UNICEF supports the Disaster Management Center (DMC) with overall response coordination.
• As initial support, UNICEF mobilized water storage equipment, tarpaulin sheets and water purification tablets, while preparing to contribute to a joint Government-UN needs assessment and to respond more comprehensively once the needs of affected children and families have been identified.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
With the start of the Southwest monsoon over Sri Lanka, torrential rains – the worst to hit the country since 2003 – inundated the western and southern regions of the country. Many instances of deadly landslides have been reported along with flash floods causing so far 169 deaths and 112 people missing. The authorities expect the number of casualties to rise as the situation evolves. Currently, 75,236 people are reported as displaced in 336 evacuation centres in 15 districts (out of 25).
However, this number does not include the people stranded in their homes without access to safe locations or those who are sheltering at host families. Therefore, the actual number of people displaced and affected could be significantly higher than reported. The search and rescue operations are facing difficulties receiving information about location and stranded people due to power outages and telecommunication hindrances (e.g. no battery power in mobile phones).
Five major river basins (Kelani, Kalu, Gin, Nilawala and Attanagalu Oya) are flooded since 26 May 2017 and the flood water continues to rise in many locations. Flood resistant damns along many rivers are either overflowing or reaching saturation points with some already at risk of breach. The Department of Irrigation had issued a warning to people living in downstream in Kalutara district to evacuate with immediate effect on 28 May 2017.
The Department of Meteorology warns of continued heavy rainfall (above 100 mm) throughout the same areas on 30 May 2017. Strong winds (about 80 kmph) and thundershowers are expected over the country.
As of 13:00hrs on 28 May 2017, the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) had issued “red alerts” to people living in unstable slopes (landslide risk areas as mapped out by NBRO) in Rathnapura, Kegalle, Galle, Kalutara, Matara, Hambanthota and Nuwara Eliya districts to evacuate immediately if rain continues in the next 24-48 hours.
Today, the ministry of Education (MOE) announced that all schools in Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Ratnapura and Kegalle will remain closed until Friday, 2 June 2017.
In the absence of a proper Government-led needs assessment (which is expected to be conducted next week), for the time being, the humanitarian response is planned based on estimations derived from analysing/comparing the demographic data (Census, 2012) and historical flood/landslide statistics (especially May 2016).