Colombo: Sri Lankan rescue teams announced on Thursday that they had recovered four drowned children who were killed in flash floods, and four others were missing, after heavy rains caused by a strong but slow-moving storm that is now heading towards India.
More than 250,000 people in Sri Lanka were forced to flee after their homes were flooded.
Indian meteorological officials said there was a “possibility” that the deep depression over the southwestern Bay of Bengal could develop into a cyclonic storm.
Hurricanes – the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or hurricanes in the Pacific Northwest – pose a regular and deadly threat in the region.
Having bypassed the coast of Sri Lanka, it was now moving north towards the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The Indian Meteorological Department said the cyclone was expected to hit the coast of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in southern India on Saturday morning in the form of a “deep depression” with wind speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour (43 miles per hour).
The Sri Lanka Disaster Management Center said that about 276,000 people were looking for temporary shelter in public buildings after their homes were flooded.
The government asked the army to assist in relief operations.
The disaster center said search teams are still looking for two missing children and two men who were swept away by the floods while on a tractor and trailer.
Floods and landslides linked to deadly rains are common across South Asia, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.