Sri Lanka floods: World Vision responds
As the numbers affected by Sri Lanka’s floods rise to more than one million, World Vision is distributing emergency relief to thousands of people in the worst-hit areas.
With no signs of the weather abating the numbers are expected to rise and the crisis set to worsen, and the aid agency is particularly particular concerned for water-borne diseases.
“This is one of the worst natural disasters to hit the country in recent times,” said Suresh Bartlett, World Vision Sri Lanka’s National Director.
“There is devastation everywhere, many communities have lost their livelihoods and are desperately in need of food, water and other relief relief items.”
Camps
Unprecedented rainfall in the Central and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka which has continued for the last three weeks, wreaking havoc on the island and leaving more than 200,000 people displaced, seeking shelter in temporary camps.
Batticaloa district in the east has been the worst hit, receiving the equivalent of its annual rainfall in just a few weeks, affecting more than 530,000 people.
Transport and telecommunications across the district have been disrupted, more than two hundred small and medium reservoirs have been breached and washed away and other tanks are spilling over. An estimated 400,000 acres of crops have been damaged, and drinking wells have been polluted and contaminated.
World Vision staff have been working round the clock since the floods began, reaching more than 10,000 people with food, water and other relief items.