Floods triggered by heavy rains in Sri Lanka have killed six people and damaged thousands of homes, affecting many still in shelters after last year's tsunami, Reuters quoted governmental sources as saying on Wednesday. Some 2,000 homes were destroyed and at least 63,000 people affected, a broad term covering those who had suffered damage to their homes, businesses or any other property. Water levels fell in most of the country after rains eased, but officials were still assessing flood damage. Around 1,200 families were in temporary shelters. "As well as the flooding, there has been a lot of subsidence," said G.M. Gunawardena, assistant director of the National Disaster Management Centre. Three of the dead were killed in the capital Colombo, two when a rain-weakened wall collapsed, while most of the other dead appeared to have drowned trying to swim to safety, he said. In the north-eastern town of Trincomalee, aid workers said victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami still living in wooden and corrugated iron temporary shelters had been forced to leave what few possessions they had left.
