COLOMBO – Heavy rains triggered fresh landslide warnings in Sri Lanka’s worst-affected central hills on Dec 5, as the death toll from last week’s Cyclone Ditwah passed 600.

The National Building Research Organisation, which monitors the stability of mountain slopes, said heavy rainfall within 24 hours could further saturate the hills and make them unstable.

“Since rainfall within the past 24 hours has exceeded 150mm, if the rains continue, evacuate to a safe location to avoid the risk of landslides,” the organisation said in a statement.

The latest deluge was brought on by the onset of the north-east monsoon, though some of the earlier flooding that began last week has started to subside.

The Disaster Management Centre said on Dec 5 that 607 people had been confirmed dead, with 214 still missing.

The number of people in state-run refugee camps has dropped to 170,000 from a peak of 225,000 as flood waters receded in and around the capital Colombo.

Record rainfall had

triggered the floods and deadly landslides

Residents evacuated from the landslide-prone central hills have already been told not to return immediately to their homes, even if they were unaffected by the slips.

Fresh landslide alert on Dec 5 was issued for new areas that were not covered by previous warnings.

In the central town of Gampola, residents worked to clear mud and fix water damage.

“We are getting volunteers from other areas to help with this clean-up,” Muslim cleric Faleeldeen Qadiri told AFP at the Gate Jumma Mosque.