21 May 2003
Australia will provide $100,000 in emergency relief to Sri Lanka following
the country's worst flooding in nearly sixty years.
The funding will go to the Sri Lankan Red Cross for items such as food,
medical supplies, clean drinking water, and mobile tents. The distribution of
these items will be overseen by Red Cross disaster management officers who are
already in place in flood affected districts.
The floods and landslides of south and central Sri Lanka have left at least
200 people dead and about 700 people remain missing. Aerial searches are
continuing for survivors. Up to 130,000 families have been displaced with many
being relocated to schools and temples.
It is estimated that in the order of 500-thousand people are affected by the
flooding which has destroyed homes and buildings and cut communications and
transport links in the districts of Ratnapura, Galle, Matara, Kalutara and
Hambantota. More rain is predicted to fall over the coming weeks.
Aid agencies have already begun distributing food and clean water supplies to
flood victims. Helicopter drops of food parcels have been made to people cut off
by landslides or floodwaters.
Further assistance from the Government will be considered when the full
extent of the damage becomes clear.