More than 40 people killed as heavy rains trigger floods in Sri Lanka

According to officials, Sri Lanka’s authorities have stopped passenger trains and closed roads in some areas of the country, resulting in more than 40 deaths.

About 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of Colombo, the government’s Disaster Management Center reported on Thursday that 25 of the reported deaths occurred in Badulla and Nuwara Eliya, central Sri Lanka, where tea is grown in a region known as the “mountain valley.”

The center reported that 10 people had been hurt in the same areas as another 21 people had gone missing as a result of landslides, and that 21 more had gone missing.

Last week, downpours over the weekend, which wreaked havoc by flooding homes, fields, and roads, made the situation worse in Sri Lanka.

Roads have been blocked because reservoirs and rivers have overflowed. According to officials, some important roads connecting the provinces have been closed.

After rocks, mud, and trees fell onto railroad tracks in some mountain regions, authorities temporarily suspended trains. Workers were demonstrating how to remove the debris on local television. The tracks have been flooded in some places.

While navy and police used boats to transport residents, local television footage showed an air force helicopter rescuing three people who had been stranded on the roof of a damaged house.

Three people were killed when a car was swept away by floodwaters near the eastern town of Ampara, which was located about 410 kilometers (256 miles) east of Colombo, according to footage from the incident.

The weather-related death toll for this week is highest since June last year, when 26 people died as a result of heavy rain. 17 people died as a result of flooding and landslides in December.

The worst floods of this century occurred in June 2003, killing 254 people.