Friends Melanie Watters and Janine Reid have been trapped in Pussellawa since Thursday
Two British women stranded by landslides in Sri Lanka’s tea mountains are running out of food and water, the daughter of one of them has said, as officials reported that the death toll of Cyclone Ditwah has reached 465.
Melanie Watters, 54, and her friend Janine Reid, 55, both from London, were being driven through the mountains from Kandy in central Sri Lanka on Thursday when the road in front of them was swamped, sending a bus nearby over a cliff-edge.
Continue reading…
Source Link British women stranded by landslides in Sri Lankan mountains running out of food and water, daughter says
Much improved response systems are struggling to cope with ever more powerful and destructive storms
Families stranded on their rooftops. Homes buried by fast-flowing mud. Jagged brown craters scarring lush green hillsides.
The scenes are the result of a series of cyclones and storms in a heavy monsoon season that have struck Asia with torrential rains, gutting essential infrastructure and reshaping landscapes. The violent weather has killed at least 1,200 people in the past week and forced a million to flee without knowing whether their homes will still be standing when they go back.
Continue reading…
Source Link Families on rooftops, homes buried by mud: Asia floods show water is overtaking wind as main threat
Meanwhile, Iran grapples with one of worst droughts and temperatures fall 10C below normal in US
More heavy rainfall is expected in Sri Lanka in the coming days, likely resulting in further damage across the country. It comes after torrential rainfall in south-east Asia triggered catastrophic flash floods and landslides that have affected millions, killing more than 300 people in Indonesia and 160 in Thailand, with hundreds more still missing.
Parts of North Sumatra, Indonesia, were hit with rainfall totals of 800mm over four days, with other areas also experiencing heavy rainfall.
Continue reading…
Source Link Sri Lanka braced for more damage after torrential rain kills hundreds across Asia
Millions of people affected by torrential rainfall in Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia
Sri Lanka and Indonesia have deployed military personnel as they race to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed more than 1,100 people across four countries in Asia.
Millions of people have been affected by a combination of tropical cyclones and heavy monsoon rains in Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, Thailand and Malaysia in recent days.
Continue reading…
Source Link Sri Lanka and Indonesia deploy militaries as Asia floods death toll passes 1,100
Many uncertain about the future after losing everything in the country’s deadliest natural disaster for years
When the rains began, Layani Rasika Niroshani was not worried. The 36-year-old mother of two was used to the heavy monsoon showers that drench Sri Lanka’s hilly central region of Badulla every year. But as it kept pounding down without stopping, the family started to feel jittery.
Some relocated to a relative’s house, but her brother and his wife decided to stay behind to collect the valuables. As they were inside, a landslide hit the family home.
Continue reading…
Source Link ‘We have to rebuild from scratch’: Sri Lankans relive the devastation of Cyclone Ditwah