2017 SRI LANKA FLOOD & LANDSLIDES REPORT
- Admin
- Jun 22, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 27, 2023
Background On 25 and 26 May, heavy rainfall brought by the southwest monsoon triggered flooding and landslides in 15 of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka. As of 31 May, about 630,000 people and 9,000 houses have been damaged according to UN Resident Coordinator for Sri Lanka. 6 clusters (Health, Food Security & Nutrition, Shelter and NFI, WASH, Education and Protection) have been activated in response to the local needs.
CREST received appeals from 3 local partners, and a relief and assessment team was deployed from 14 – 21 June for initial distributions and to conduct needs assessment with local partners.
Objective
1. Identify the areas for immediate needs and develop a logistics plan.
2. Distribution with local partners and authorities.
3. Situation report and future planning.
Team Member
Member: CK Cheong
Travel Events Date - Event
14 Jun
0630 - Check in at KLIA 2.
0930 - Arrived at Colombo and pick up by Thoumiyan and team.
1200 - Arrived at Alliance Development Trust (ADT) N6° 50.922’ E79° 51.954’ meeting with Raghu, Thoumiyan, Andrew and Paramesh.
1400 - Lunch at office
1500 - Visit to UN office at 202-204 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. Coordinator during this response is Mr. Alex Suwitra
1630 - Money charger (1 USD = Rs 153) 1800 - Next day planning and rest
15 Jun
0630 - Wake up update reports and check emails.
0800 - Breakfast
0900 - Loading dry food packs to van and purchase local sim Dialog (+94 76 4212068) with Rs 449 for 1 GB data for days and 1 GB data for night valid for 30 days.
1050 - Depart to Galle 1329 - Arrived at Galle City and pick up Rev. Nelson from church of South India (CSI).
1447 - Arrived at Village Udugama N6° 11.902’ E80° 20.212’, the community is cleaning their house and local business has restored.
1536 - Lunch at Galle and goodbye to Rev Nelson
16:57 - Arrived at Vanapoluhena, Baddegama N6° 11.854’ E80° 14.396’ for distribution (see activity 2). Visit to families are badly effected by flood.
18:10 - Return to Galle for dinner and check in to Sealine Hotel.
23:25 - Lights off.
16 Jun
0630 - Wake up update reports and check emails.
0800 - Check out, breakfast.
1000 - Arrived at Bandaragama and pick up by Pastor Sathees Kumar.
1227 - Checked in to Nilani Hotel at the City of Ratnapura N6° 40.883’ E80° 23.980, continue with lunch and situation update by the local.
1450 - Arrived at Palawela Village (See Activity 3).
1600 - Arrived at Thimiyawa Village (See Activity 3). 1650 - Arrived at Elapatha Village (See Activity 3).
1800 - Return to Hotel, dinner and celebrate birthday for a police officer whom following us during the distribution.
1930 - Debriefing.
2030 - Washing and rest.
17 Jun
0600 - Wake up update reports and check emails.
0730 - Breakfast.
1045 - Arrived at Millakade Dhodampe (See Activity 3).
1200 - Arrived at landslides area – Ayagama (See Activity 3).
1340 - Lunch at Vijaya Resort Restaurant, N6° 44.399’ E80°13.990’.
1500 - Arrived at Eheliyagoda (See Activity 3).
1523 - Arrived at Dhoronakada (See Activity 3).
1700 - Arrived at General Hospital Ratnapura.
1900 - Prayers and debriefing.
2000 - Washing and rest.
18 Jun
0530 - Reports, check emails & prepare sermon.
0800 - Church service
1030 - Prepare to go out
1218 - Arrived at Upper Amunutenne Division AOG Church (See Activity 3).
1536 - Arrived at Batugedara (See Activity 3).
1700 - Back to hotel for final debriefing.
1830 - Dinner at Pr Sathees’s house.
2000 - Washing and rest.
19 Jun
0730 - Reports, check emails.
0800 - Received call form Mr Raghu, plan to Kalutara has cancelled due to …….
1400 - Arrived at ADT office and lunch.
1500 - Report and emails
1830 - City Tour
2200 - Rest
20 Jun
0730 - Depart from office
0921 - Arrived at Thebuwana Tamil School (See Activity 4)
1013 - Arrived at Thebuwana Sinhala School (See Activity 4)
1112 - Arrived at Neboda Tamil School (See Activity 4)
1303 - Arrived at Mahagama Tamil School (See Activity 4)
1500 - Lunch at TBC Family Restaurant
1720 - Arrived at ADT office, meeting with Godfrey and debriefing with the ADT teams.
1900 - Rest and clean up
21 Jun
0645 - Depart from office to airport
0815 - Arrived and checked in at airport
1800 - Home sweet home
Activities 1. Immediate Needs and Logistics Planning Location: Alliance Development Trust (ADT).
Person in Charge: Raghu Balachandran Contact Number: +94 11 551xxxx Email: raghu@adtlanka.org
Update: Initial travel & distribution plan was drafted together with local partners
From left: Mr. Andrew, Thoumiyan, Paramesh, Raghu
Relief Dry Food Pack from ADT
2. Distribution and assessment at Vanapoluhena, Baddegama. Location: Vanapoluhena, Baddegama N6° 11.854’ E80°14.396’. Person in Charge: Father Jayasinhe
Update: There are 300 families in this village, major source of income is tea planting. There is a tea factory in the village. Distribution of dry food pack only for 40 families are badly affected selection has done by the local pastor.
3. Distribution in the District of Rathnapura.
Location: Palawala GPS: N6° 38.803’ E80° 21.287’ Beneficiaries: 37 Families (Flood / IDP Camp) |
​Location: Thimiyawa GPS: N6° 42.948’ E80° 18.047’ Beneficiaries: 27 Families (Flood) |
​Location: Elapatha GPS: N6° 40.276’ E80° 21.986’ Beneficiaries: 57 Families (Flood / IDP Camp) |
Location: Millakade Dhodampe GPS: N6° 43.587’ E80° 20.149’ Beneficiaries: 52 out of 200 Families (Flood) |
​Location: Ayagama GPS: N6° 38.270’ E80° 18.588’ Beneficiaries: 10 Families (Landslides) |
​Location: Eheliyagoda GPS: N6° 52.050’ E80° 16.342’ Beneficiaries: 7 Families (Flood / IDP Camp) |
​Location: Dhoranankada GPS: N6° 51.946’ E80° 14.949’ Beneficiaries: 28 out of 98 Families (Flood / IDP Camp). Food given will cook together. |
​Location: Upper Amunutenne Division GPS: N6° 43.358’ E80° 31.650’ Church: Assembly of God (Landslides) |
​Location: Batugedara GPS: N6° 40.535’ E80° 24.490’ Beneficiaries: 35 out of 645 Families (Flood) |
4. School Bags Distribution Before the distribution, assessment was done by ADT, local pastor and school principal. School kits are given only to affected families.
 Location: Thebuwana Tamil School Principal: K. Rajaratnam GPS: N6° 35.384’ E80° 3.945’ Bags: 28 out of 512 students Others NGO in this area: People Bank – Exercise books Lion Club, Hindu Society – Food packs |
 Location: Thebuwana Sinhala School Principal: Kumarsingal GPS: N6° 35.452’ E80° 3.274’ Bags: 50 out of 211 students Others NGO in this area: People Bank – Exercise books Lion Club, Hindu Society – Food packs |
​  Location: Neboda Tamil School Principal: Sivarani GPS: N6° 35.217’ E80° 6.393’ Bags: 20 out of 408 students Others NGO is this area: ADT – Food packs Local Church – School Shoes |
​  Location: Mahagama Tamil School GPS: N6° 36.765’ E80° 10.820’ Bags: 40 out of 40 students Others NGO is this area: None |
5. Health Assessment Location: Rathnapura General Hospital Update: During our visit, many dengue cases were reported. People died due to dengue fever, we went to hospital to check the status. At normal day, dengue cases are less than 50. On 17 Jun, ward 11, 125 dengue cases reported and 90 cases were confirmed. At this moment, 6 wards have assigned for dengue patients. (125 is the number for 1 ward). Hospital is running out of medical staff, equipment and everywhere you walk, you will see these pictures. Doctor Nishantha welcomes medical teams to help out.
All pictures are taken with approval from the local authority. Only for CREST’s documentations and reporting purposes.
Financial Reports
92% of the funds are directly delivered to the hands of the flood and landslides survival.
Recommendations
1. Medical Team – Medical assistance is requested from the hospital as the hospital is planning to extend the ward for dengue patients. Medical equipment and staff for dengue treatment is highly in demand at this moment. We can consider to deploy a medical team or helping the dengue patients by providing mosquito nets or sleeping mats.
2. Food and Non-Food Items – Needs a lot of funds to provide for this. It is a short term operations but the needs are plentiful.
4. Livelihood – Majority of the communities are staying in estates. They plant either tea or rubber trees. Damages to the tea plants and rubber trees is not significant.
5. Risk Reduction & Training – Training on Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction with the local partners and community is on high demand. Flood in Sri Lankan is an annual event, providing tools and knowledges on disaster preparedness will be beneficial in the long run and progressively making a change in local community.
Submitted by CK Cheong Date: 22-June-2017