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Heavy rain in south-west, drought-hit areas receive little: Met. Dept.
Heavy rains, sometimes accompanied by strong winds, lashed many parts of the country including Colombo, Gampaha, Kandy, Galle, Ratnapura and Matara Districts but sporadic rains in the drought- stricken areas, were insufficient to bring any relief, weather officials said.
Gone with the wind: This young lady tries in vain to keep her umbrella upright. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Commenting on the situation Meteorology Department’s forecast director S.R. Jayasekera said, “Usually the South West Monsoon brings rain only to the South Western parts of the country, but as this is an atmospheric disturbance, the whole island will receive rains for several days”.
The highest rainfall, yesterday, was reported from Katunayake and Ratmalana areas with 86.7mm. and 86.6 mm consequently. Colombo reported 57.4 mm, Kurunegala 55.8 mm, Jaffna 54.9 mm and Puttalam 54.2 mm.
Anuradhapura district which is facing severe agricultural losses and drinking water problems, received 1.1 mm of rain after several months, while Polonnaruwa that is also hard hit by the droughtreceived, 10.5 mm of rain on Friday. Several areas in Puttalam, Jaffna, Hambantota and Batticaloa experienced localised showers.
According to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) there will be little change in the prevailing drought conditions in the districts of Moneragala, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Hambantota, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Jaffna as the current rainfall was not sufficient to fill the irrigation tanks and reservoirs.
Moneragala Government Agent A. Paththiananthan and Jaffna Government Agent, S.Arumainayagam said they would continue to distribute dry rations and drinking water to the affected people.
Washed away: The floating market in Pettah scheduled to be opened on Friday was postponed due to the bad weather.
On Friday the areas of Badalkumbura and Moneragala in the Moneragala District and Kantale, Morawewa and Gomerankadawela in Trincomalee District experienced strong winds. In Kandy heavy rains and strong winds damaged houses in Pasbage Korale.
| Rain forecast today for most parts of the country
Rain is to be expected today in the Western, Central, and Sabaragamuwa Provinces and in the Galle and Matara Districts, the Meteorological Department said. The North Western Province will also witness spells of rain during the day. People in the Eastern and Uva Provinces are warned of thundershowers.Meanwhile it also said showers or thundershowers will take place in several places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Hambantota through Colombo and Galle. Winds, that will be south-westerly, would attain a speed of 20-40kmph. Rough seas are expected at times in the deep and shallow areas off the coast extending from Katunayake to Hambantota through Colombo and Galle. The department added that the winds in these sea areas can attain a speed of 60kmph. |