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Sri Lanka floods, mudslides kill 14, drive 80,000 people from their homes

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It's been a wet, wet Christmas, and our neighbours in the region have been stricken by the unusually heavy rains. 

Floods and mudslides triggered by the storm have killed at least 14 people in Sri Lanka and driven 80,000 people from their homes, officials said on Friday.

Police said at least 10 people were killed in mudslides, while four others drowned in flooding triggered when authorities opened the sluice gates at a number of reservoirs to reduce pressure on dams.

Authorities have deployed troops to assist with relief operations for around 80,000 people whose homes were flooded or damaged by two days of unusually heavy rains.

The meteorological department has issued a severe weather warning over the floods, which came as Sri Lanka held commemorations for the 31,000 people killed there when the Asian tsunami hit in 2004.

Source: AFP


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