On the morning of Sunday, the 20th of May 2018, with the provinces of Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Gampaha and Puttalam in particular (in total 19 provinces) being affected, Sri Lanka was flooded due to the onset of heavy monsoon rains. According to the situation update by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) of Sri Lanka, as of 1200 hours on the 27th of May 2018, over 166,228 people (43,604 families) in 20 districts have been affected. As per the Report, 23 people have died, 13 have been injured and 1 person has been reported missing as a result of the heavy rains. More than 19,519 families have been evacuated into 339 welfare centres in 8 districts including the districts of Puttalam, Kegalle, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Gampaha and Colombo.
The ACT Sri Lanka forum is planning on submitting a funding proposal to provide cooked meals, dry rations, safe shelter and basic non-food items, basic health services and facilities to ensure that the floods affected persons’ basic needs are met with regards to persons in the most affected areas. ACT Alliance is ready to respond, by providing humanitarian assistance (shelter, and WASH), to affected populations through the ACT Appeal Mechanism in the coming weeks.
