Sri Lanka seeks aid after flooding

RATNAPURA, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka needs international assistance in the aftermath of its worst flooding in five decades, which has killed at least 300 people and left an estimated 150,000 people homeless, the government said Tuesday.

Another 200 people are missing, including many buried by landslides during the weekend deluge, officials said.

At least 60,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed in three districts.

"The full extent of the tragedy and loss of human lives are unfolding as we are reaching remote areas," rehabilitation minister Jayalath Jayawardene told The Associated Press. "At least 300 people have died and this is not a final figure, it could be more."

Three teams equipped with satellite phones have been sent to the most affected areas and were reporting the new deaths, Jayawardene said.

"I appeal to the international community to urgently help us with bottled water, shelter material, clothes and medicine," Jayawardene said.

The United States pledged a $50,000 emergency grant and was sending an official from the U.S. Agency for International Development to Sri Lanka to help, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo said.

"My government is deeply saddened by the loss of life and by the plight of thousands of displaced Sri Lankan families in flooded areas," Ambassador E. Ashley Wills said. "We stand ready to assist Sri Lanka in this time of need."

An Indian navy ship arrived Tuesday with supplies of medicine and food. Two Indian military aircraft carrying medical teams also arrived with experts and relief supplies.

The floods and landslides struck three districts in south-central Sri Lanka late Saturday after days of rain caused by a tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Three days after the disaster struck this tropical island off India's southern tip, thousands of people tried to return to their homes Tuesday. But many found them either swept away or damaged.

With water receding at many places, health officials moved in to stop possible epidemics. At Ratnapura, the worst-hit area, health officials ordered water supply officials to purify potable water with chlorine, a disinfectant.

Earlier Tuesday, rescuers reached the village of Dothupitiya, 15 miles east of Ratnapura, to find it buried under a landslide. One body was found and 24 people were missing and feared dead, a lawmaker from the area said.

"Chances are very dim that there would be survivors," Parliament member Mahinda Ratnatilleke said.

Air force helicopters were ferrying water and food parcels -- containing rice, curry, vegetables and chili paste wrapped in plastic and newspapers -- to an estimated 150,000 people in affected areas across Sri Lanka.

In the city of Ratnapura, a cricket ground was converted into a base for helicopters and relief workers.

Fatima Bibi, who sought shelter at a Buddhist temple with her six children, said, "I just can't find my house. It is gone. We all survived, but where do we go now?"

Police tried unsuccessfully to prevent people from entering their homes, fearing they might collapse. Residents retrieved mud-splattered pots and pans, radios and televisions. One teenage girl picked up the remains of her school books.

The sun shone in parts of the country on Tuesday. Partial electricity supplies were restored, scooter taxis and passenger buses were back on the road, and some shops were open.

Sri Lanka is a small tropical island off India's southern tip with 18.6 million people.