Colombo submerged in flood due to heavy rain

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 November 2010, 11:23 GMT]
Several parts of Colombo city were submerged in flood water due to heavy rain fall that started Wednesday night and expected to persist even after Thursday, according to the Met Department. Thursday 08:00 a.m Met Department had recorded 435 mm of rainfall in Colombo. The worst effected area in the highest rainfall recorded thus so far was in 1992 at 493 mm. The site where the Sri Lanka Parliamentary complex is located in Sri Jayewardenepura is also under flood water.

The Members of Parliament were driven in armored conveys to the parliament Thursday due to the prevailing rain and flood situation surrounding the Parliament premises while elsewhere in the city many of the roads remain under water disrupting normalcy.

More than 6,000 families have been affected by floods in the Colombo and Kalutara districts which have caused traffic congestions, delays of trains, closure of schools, electricity interruptions and disruption of several services.

Maligawatta, Dematagoda, Grandpass, Kotahena, Wijerama, Thunmulla junction, Kotikawatte, Rajagiriya, Thotalanga were among the areas badly affected.

The Meteorology Department said the prevailing weather conditions were due to the influence of the convergence between the winds of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere within the inter-tropical convergence zone.

It is the Southern half of the island that will be most effected by these conditions. The inter-monsoon period with evening thundershowers is expected to persist till mid- December.