The death toll from the severe weather affecting Sri Lanka has risen to eight, with 11,832 people from 3,014 families affected across nine districts, the Disaster Management Centre said in a situation report issued on Tuesday evening.

The figures mark a sharp escalation over the course of the day. Police reported six dead on Tuesday morning, when almost 3,000 people — 2,971 from 769 families — were recorded as affected across six districts. The updated tally is set out in full at the foot of this report.

A sixth death at Watawala

The toll has risen by one overnight. Four of the deaths were the victims of the earth collapse at Polpitiya in Hatton on Monday afternoon: three women aged 47, 58 and 83, and a 22-year-old man, all recovered from the debris by Monday night. A fifth was the man killed when an embankment gave way onto a shop at Solankanda in Nawalapitiya.

The newly reported death is that of a 53-year-old man who fell into the Mahaweli River while crossing the bridge on the Watawala–Gnanandagama road, according to Hiru News.

The missing man is a 45-year-old resident of the Ginigathhena area in Ambagamuwa, swept away by a torrent of water.

Hiru News put the overall toll at seven rather than six, listing a second death at Pasbage Korale in Nawalapitiya — also a 67-year-old man killed by an earth collapse — attributed to Disaster Management Centre Kandy district deputy director Indika Ranaweera. It is not clear whether that is a separate incident or a second account of the Solankanda death, which sits inside the same divisional secretariat and whose victim’s age was reported variously as 65 and 67. The police figure of six is used here.

The Navy has deployed 11 teams with craft to rescue people affected by the flooding, Navy media spokesman Commander Chaminda Walakuluge said, with a further 171 teams prepared for dispatch if needed.

Rivers now receding

The Irrigation Department said on Tuesday morning there is no immediate risk of the flood situation worsening, with heavy rain not expected during the day.

Director of Hydrology and Disaster Management Engineer L.S. Sooriyabandara said water levels in the Mahaweli at Nawalapitiya and Peradeniya are gradually receding, and that levels in the upper Kelani at Kitulgala and Norwood are declining. A slight rise at Kitulgala poses no immediate threat, he said. Levels at Avissawella, Glencorse and Hanwella are falling, indicating the Kelani flood situation is unlikely to deteriorate further, and the Kalu River at Ratnapura and Millakanda is also receding.

The Nilwala and Gin basins have had no significant rainfall and are forecast less than 25 mm on Tuesday, with no flood risk anticipated. The Attanagalu Oya and Maha Oya are also falling.

Warnings still in force

Red landslide warnings remain in effect for six divisions across Kandy, Kegalle and Nuwara Eliya. Government schools in the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts are closed, and the ban on fishing from Puttalam to Pottuvil continues, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Department Director General Susantha Kahawatta said.

The Met Department expects falls above 75 mm at some places in Sabaragamuwa and the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts on Tuesday, down from Monday’s 100 mm threshold.

Update (August 4): nearly 500 families displaced at Gampola

Several villages in the Gampola area have been inundated as the Mahaweli River rose, displacing approximately 500 families, Ada Derana reported on Tuesday morning.

The Divisional Secretaries of Udapalatha and Doluwa said the displaced residents have been moved to safe locations. The flooding was disclosed at an emergency Disaster Management Committee meeting held on Monday, chaired by Kandy District MP Fasmin Sharif and Kandy District Secretary Indika Udawatta.

The villages submerged include Babila, Bothalapitiya, Gangawatta Road, Pallewela, Nawalapitiya Road, Leonis, Kudamake, Naranwita and Inguruwatta. Those displaced are being housed at temporary shelters set up at the Gate Masjid in Gampola, the Kahatapitiya Jumah Masjid and the Bothalapitiya Gangathilaka Viharaya.

Six boats have been deployed to support rescue and relief operations, officials said. The committee also discussed contingency measures should conditions deteriorate further. Hiru News carried the same account from the two Divisional Secretaries, likewise putting the figure at about 500 families.

The scale of displacement in a single town sits alongside the Irrigation Department’s assessment that river levels are broadly easing — the families were displaced as the Mahaweli peaked, and remain in shelters.

Update (August 4): Nuwara Eliya records 258.6 mm

The heaviest rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday was 258.6 mm at Nuwara Eliya–Norton, the Department of Meteorology said. Canyon recorded 234.6 mm and Laxapana 208.4 mm.

Reporting earlier on Tuesday morning, NewsFirst gave the highest 24-hour reading as 125 mm in the Nuwara Eliya and Hatton–Dickoya areas, with 111 mm at Maliboda in Kegalle — figures drawn from an earlier Met bulletin covering a different measurement window.

Watawala has received approximately 661 mm of rain over four days, National Building Research Organisation Senior Scientist Dr. Wasantha Senadheera said, including 204 mm on Monday alone — the highest recorded anywhere in the country that day. The Ambagamuwa Divisional Secretariat Division received between 150 mm and 500 mm over three days.

Dr. Senadheera said intense rainfall concentrated into short periods has become more common as a result of climate change, but cautioned that the current spell does not compare with Cyclone Ditwah, when significantly higher totals were recorded. With heavy rain continuing in the central highlands, he said the risk of landslides and earth slips has increased.

Update (August 4): main roads reopened

The Colombo–Kandy road at Ganethenna, Kadugannawa, closed since Monday after rocks fell onto the lower Kadugannawa area, reopened to traffic at 6.00 a.m. on Tuesday, the Disaster Management Centre said.

Police said the decision followed an improvement in weather conditions and recommendations issued by the National Building Research Organisation. Motorists have been advised to remain vigilant through the area.

Hiru News reported that the Hatton–Ginigathhena road, also closed by a rockfall, and the Hemmathagama–Gampola road have both reopened to traffic.

Update (August 4, evening): DMC puts those affected at 4,088

The Disaster Management Centre’s latest situation report, issued on Tuesday afternoon, gives six dead, three injured and one person still missing — the same casualty figures reported that morning — but raises the number of people affected sharply.

The DMC said 4,088 people from 1,045 families across six districts have been affected by the heavy rain, flooding and landslides reported since Monday, up from the 2,971 people in 769 families recorded earlier in the day. Nearly 500 families have been evacuated to 11 safe centres.

Nuwara Eliya remains the worst affected district, accounting for five of the six deaths and more than 500 families, the DMC said. District authorities and other agencies are continuing relief work while monitoring conditions.

Update (August 4, evening): schools to reopen, except in Hatton

Government schools in the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts closed by the weather will reopen on Wednesday, the Central Province Education Director announced, citing an improvement in conditions after the heavy rainfall. Arrangements have been made to resume normal academic activities, the director said.

The Hatton Education Zone is the exception. All schools within the zone will remain closed on Wednesday (05) because of the weather still prevailing there, on the instructions of the same Central Province Director of Education.

The two announcements supersede the position reported earlier on Tuesday, when schools across both districts were closed with no reopening date set.

Update (August 4, evening): toll rises to eight, 11,832 affected

The Disaster Management Centre’s latest situation report, issued on Tuesday evening, raises the death toll to eight and sharply increases the number of people affected, Ada Derana reported.

Heavy rain, flooding and landslides have affected 11,832 people from 3,014 families across nine districts, the DMC said — nearly triple the 4,088 people recorded in the report issued a few hours earlier, and across three more districts. Three people have been injured.

A total of 3,538 people have been moved to 51 safety centres, up from the roughly 500 families in 11 centres reported earlier in the day, as relief and rescue operations continue.

One house has been destroyed and 290 partially damaged.

Nuwara Eliya remains the worst-affected district by some margin, accounting for 5,445 of those affected, six of the eight deaths and 115 of the damaged houses.

Update (August 4, evening): Gregory Lake spill gate opened

The spill gate at Gregory Lake in Nuwara Eliya was opened on Tuesday after heavy rain in the area caused a rapid rise in the water level, the Nuwara Eliya Disaster Management Centre said.

The Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council suspended boating on the lake as a precaution, citing the severe weather and dense fog over the town.

Police advised motorists to drive with care on the Nuwara Eliya–Badulla, Nuwara Eliya–Hatton and Nuwara Eliya–Kandy main roads, and through the Toppass–Labukele area, where dense fog has cut visibility.

Update (August 4, evening): rain to continue Wednesday

The Department of Meteorology forecasts showers or thundershowers at times in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in the Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Galle and Matara districts, with cloudy skies over those areas.

Falls above 75 mm are again possible at some locations in Sabaragamuwa province and the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts — the same threshold forecast for Tuesday, and an indication that the wet spell over the worst-hit districts has not yet broken.

Showers or thundershowers are expected at several places in the Uva and Eastern provinces and the Mullaitivu district after 2.00 p.m. on Wednesday.

The department also warned of strong winds of around 40 to 50 kmph at times over the North Central, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Central and North-western provinces and in the Trincomalee district, advising the public to take precautions against localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Update (August 5): Defence Ministry releases a further Rs. 75 million

The Ministry of Defence has released an additional Rs. 75 million to fund relief for people affected by the flooding and landslides, NewsFirst reported on Wednesday.

Additional Secretary A.G. Dharmathilaka said the money comes on top of more than Rs. 50 million already allocated to District Secretaries to support relief operations under way in the affected districts.

He put the administrative footprint of the disaster at 56 Divisional Secretariat divisions across nine districts — Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Kegalle, Matale, Matara, Ratnapura, Trincomalee, Hambantota and Puttalam — hit by heavy rainfall and strong winds.

The casualty and displacement figures cited alongside the funding announcement are unchanged from the Disaster Management Centre’s Tuesday evening situation report: 11,832 people affected, 3,538 sheltering at 51 safe centres, eight dead, three injured and one person still missing.

Update (August 5, evening): those affected pass 16,000 across 11 districts

The number of people affected has risen to 16,345 from 4,151 families, the Disaster Management Centre said in its latest report, up from the 11,832 recorded on Tuesday evening and now spread across 11 districts rather than nine.

Nuwara Eliya remains by far the worst hit, accounting for 7,288 of those affected from 1,912 families, and for six of the deaths. One death each has been recorded in the Puttalam and Kandy districts, keeping the national toll at eight.

The DMC said one house has been destroyed completely and a further 581 have sustained partial damage.

The figures mark a roughly 38% increase in those affected over the course of Wednesday, even as the death toll held steady — the spread into two additional districts, rather than any worsening in Nuwara Eliya’s casualty count, accounts for most of the rise. The Met Department expects the rain to intensify again from Thursday, with falls above 100 mm forecast for the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and three districts.