Sri Lankan rescue teams reported on Thursday that they had recovered the bodies of four children who drowned in a flash flood, with four others still missing, following heavy rainfall caused by a powerful yet slow-moving storm now heading toward India.
More than 250,000 people in Sri Lanka have been displaced after their homes were inundated by floodwaters.
Indian meteorologists have indicated a “possibility” that the deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal may intensify into a cyclonic storm.
Cyclones, similar to hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific, are a frequent and deadly threat in this region.
After brushing past Sri Lanka’s coast, the storm is now tracking northward toward India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu.
The India Meteorological Department predicts it will make landfall along the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coastline on Saturday morning as a “deep depression,” with wind speeds reaching up to 70 kph.
Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre reported that approximately 276,000 people have sought temporary shelter in public buildings after their homes were submerged.
The government has called on the military to assist in relief efforts.
Search operations are still underway for two missing children and two men who were swept away by flash floods while traveling on a tractor and trailer.
Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains are common across South Asia, but experts warn that climate change is increasing their frequency and intensity.
