Met Dept forecasts heavy showers

by Mohammed NAALIR

There will be heavy showers accompanied by thunder and lightning in the Northern, North Central, Eastern, Uva and Southern provinces, a spokesman for the Meteorology Department said. There will be heavy winds and the seas will be extremely rough. Fisheries Department Assistant Director Lal de Silva said that 10 fishing boats have gone missing with nearly 20 fishermen due to strong winds. Five bodies have been found so far.

Ten to 15 fishermen may have died, he said. Seventeen people were killed and over 100 injured when gale force winds hit several areas in the Southern province on Friday, officials of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said. According to the DMC, 14 houses were damaged and 55 houses partly damaged in the Galle district. One house was completely damaged and 15 were partly destroyed in Hambantota.

In Matara, 106 houses were completely damaged and 955 houses partly damaged. Seventy-two persons in 16 families in the Galle district and 5305 persons in 1,061 families in Matara were affected.