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A Million Sri Lankans Affected by Floods

   VOA News  February 06, 2011
   Sri  Lankan  men  push their bicycles through flood waters after heavy
   rains  in  Batticaloa,  about 320 km (199 miles) east of Colombo (File
   Photo - January 13, 2011).

Photo: Reuters

   Sri  Lankan  men  push their bicycles through flood waters after heavy
   rains  in  Batticaloa,  about 320 km (199 miles) east of Colombo (File
   Photo - January 13, 2011).

   Sri Lankan officials say heavy monsoon rains have affected more than a
   million  people, while killing at least six people and leaving several
   others missing.
   Authorities  say  the  displaced  have been sheltered in more than 300
   temporary centers.
   Sri  Lanka's Disaster Management Center says the floods have submerged
   roads  and  fields across the eastern, central and northern regions of
   the country, areas already hit by an earlier wave of monsoon rains.
   The  latest  flooding  comes  after  the U.N. issued an appeal for $51
   million  in  emergency  aid  to  help  people  affected by the earlier
   flooding. The Internet site colombopage.com says only $11.6 million of
   the requested $51 million had been received by early February.

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