At lest 20 dead and more than half a million displaced by floods
Floodwaters now cover large areas in Gampaha, Colombo and Kalutara, the most affected districts, in the western part of the country. About 220 homes have been destroyed; another 1,039 have been damaged. Many families have lost everything and are now sheltering in camps set up by the government. In Kalutara, there are 65,823 refugees, 154,121 in Colombo, and 194,770 in Gampaha.
The Sri Lanka Navy has sent 23 naval teams and 22 naval crafts to bring relief to the population, whilst the Sri Lankan army has dispatched more than 2,000 soldiers.
The government has already started distributing food, dispensing hot meals to the people affected as well as providing freeze-dried food. However, adequate health services remain to be organised.
The Church is playing a crucial role in the relief efforts; individual parishes are opening their churches and making their buildings available to the homeless.
Caritas is also directly involved in relief operations. It is coordinating a number of religious groups housing victims in schools, churches and makeshift refugee camps, providing food and health care across the affected territory.
Caritas Colombo-Seth Sarana has already raised half a million rupiahs for relief aid.
In the Archdiocese of Colombo, the faithful have responded positively to the appeal launched by Mgr Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, to open their churches, parish halls and other buildings to the refugees, as well as provide them with food.
About 70 families are staying at a primary school run by the Convent of Mary Immaculate (Nimala Maria Balia Viddyalaya), close to the Tudella Parish Church; others are housed at the St. Mary School in Ja-ela.
The evacuees come from the lower part of Ma-eliya village and from near the Ja-ela canal bund.
Fr Shantha Sagara Hettiarchchi told AsiaNews that he had to cancel this Sunday’s festivities at the Ma-eliya Church because this church is also flooded. The latter are now getting three hot meals, cooked by refugees themselves as well members of the Sacred Heart community. Parishioners have pitched in by donating food.
Being there to help one another is essential to overcome the difficulties endured in makeshift camps. Women have to cope with the added problem of the relative lack of privacy in matters of personal hygiene.
Residents of the rural villages of Sudu Wella and Delatura found shelter last Tuesday, including 150 elderly people and 100 children. and they stay at the tudella Parish Church and the Primary School of the Convent run by Mary Immaculate.
For many, evacuation has also meant separation from family members. Udeni Chamila, a 27-year-old mother of two, said her husband has to remain in the village to protect their house from rising waters and looters.
Many refugees are quite distressed, even enraged, said 33-year-old Sunil Shantha, for losing everything, even the little they had to live on.
Sunil is himself angry with the government for investing heavily in expensive public works, like highways and more, whilst doing very little for the poor.
In his view, it was easy to see that flooding would occur because his village had already had a similar experience in 2008. At that time, he ended up spending a month in the same church.
Since then though, nothing was done to reinforce the two canals that run around the village; in the end, they proved inadequate to their task.
In his appeal, Mgr Ranjith called on the faithful of the Archdiocese of Colombo, to bring food and relief material for the refugees to the Caritas Seth Sarana office at Archbishop’s House.
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