Floods triggered by heavy rains in Sri Lanka have affected some 40,000 people, the government said today.
Water levels had begun to fall in most parts of the country after the rains eased, but officials were still assessing the damage in the north and east.
"At this moment we are still collecting data," assistant director of the National Disaster Management Centre G.M. Gunawardena said. "It looks as though the worst affected areas are the north and east.
Officials said there was no figure yet on deaths caused by the floods but newspapers said that at least two people were killed in central Colombo when a wall, weakened by the rain, collapsed.
Gunawardena said some 40,000 people were affected, a broad term covering those who had suffered damage to their homes, businesses or any other property.
Aid workers said the rains forced out some people from their temporary shelters in the north eastern city of Trincomalee, which had been their home since the tsunami which killed nearly 40,000 people on the island.