At least six people have died in the severe weather affecting the Sabaragamuwa province and the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts, police said on Tuesday morning, with one man still missing after being swept away by floodwater.

Almost 3,000 people — 2,971 from 769 families — have been affected, NewsFirst reported. The Disaster Management Centre says three people have been injured.

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.