Over 66, 000 displaced due to storms in Sri Lanka

Authorities are still assisting over 66,000 people displaced in a spate of storms that hit Sri Lanka's southern coastline and repairing 1000km of power cables damaged, officials said here on Tuesday. Strong storms battered four districts in the island nation for four days last week killing 22 people, said Pradeep Kodippili, assistant director of the Disaster Management Center. Over 40 people, mostly fisherman, are reported to be missing and feared dead as storms racked the coastal belt towards the southern part of the country. "We have identified 7,137 houses that have been destroyed in the storms and many thousands more have been partially damaged. Seven welfare camps have been opened and 1,723 people are being sheltered in them," he told Xinhua. Meanwhile, Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka told media over 1000km of power cables had been damaged by strong winds. Around 46km of high tension wire, 1,041km of low tension wire, 5 transformers and 4 high tension towers had been damaged due to inclement weather conditions. According to the minister, approximately 530,000 consumers had been affected in the southern part of the country but he assured that full electricity will be restored by the weekend.