Death toll from adverse weather in Sri Lanka rises to 10, nearly 220,000 affected

Flood-trapped villagers receive distributed food on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on June 5, 2021. The death toll from Sri Lanka's inclement weather conditions rose to 10 Saturday evening while 219,027 people were affected, the country's Disaster Management Center said. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua)

COLOMBO, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Sri Lanka's inclement weather conditions rose to 10 Saturday evening while 219,027 people were affected, the country's Disaster Management Center said.

According to the latest official statistics, eight districts had been severely affected by days of heavy rains and strong winds while 15,499 people had been moved to safer locations.

The Navy said earlier on Saturday that navy teams which had been deployed for emergency rescue operations had rescued 29 people trapped by floods in the Puttalam District in northwester Sri Lanka.

According to the Navy media unit, the 29 people including women and children were from 10 families. They were trapped by rising flood waters in their areas and had sent out a distress call.

A landslide warning also had been issued for some districts.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed officials to provide immediate relief for all people affected by adverse weather conditions while the Irrigation Department has issued a flood warning in several districts.

The Meteorology Department in the latest weather report said that heavy falls of 150 mm could be expected over the weekend and the public were urged to be cautious especially from heavy lightning.

The department further said wind speeds were expected to increase up to 50 to 55 km per hour in northern, north central and northwestern provinces.