4 dead, over 42K affected by heavy rains, floods in SL

At least four people have died and over 42,000 others affected by heavy rains and subsequent floods in Sri Lanka due to the formation of a super cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, the country's Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the DMC said the deaths had been a result of severe flooding, reports Xinhua news agency.

Over 200 houses had been fully or partially damaged, while 175 people were housed in temporary shelters.

The National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) also issued a landslide warning for several districts in the country including the capital Colombo and the south.

The NBRO requested people living in high-risk areas to move to safer grounds.

The Army has dispatched rescue teams in several districts affected by the floods and has rescued several people who were trapped by the rising water levels.

DMC officials were also deployed in the worst affected districts, setting up facilities to accommodate those displaced by the adverse weather conditions.

According to weather reports, the powerful cyclone that formed in the Bay of Bengal is now headed directly for the India-Bangladesh border, bringing with it the potential for major destruction and upheaval.

Sri Lanka's Meteorology Department, in its latest weather update, said that more rains were expected in the coming days.