More than 70,000 children affected by floods in Eastern Sri Lanka

Five days' torrential rain in Ampara and Batticaloa districts of Sri Lankahas led to over 28,000 people fleeing their homes to avoid the deluge. Save the Children is already responding to families who have been affected by the flooding, many of whom had previously been displaced by conflict.

In Ampara alone more than 65,000 families, including 70,000 children, have been affected and nearly 13,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. More than 40,000 of those affected by the floods in Batticaloa were already living in welfare camps after they had been forced to flee from their homes to avoid conflict in Sri Lanka's eastern province which saw an increase in hostilities between the government forces and the LTTE.

Save the Children is already distributing supplies, including 1,000 tarpaulins for shelter and 5,000 bed sheets and plastic mats. More staff are on the way to the emergency zone and will be distributing packets of high-energy cereal for 10,000 children.

Children's education has been badly affected with schools closed because they are damaged by flooding or are being used as temporary shelters for homeless families. Save the Children is focussed on getting children back to school and is providing kits to clean up damaged schools.

David Sathananthan, district manager for Ampara said: "The floods have caused immense damage over a massive area. Homes have been destroyed, rice crops washed away and fishing businesses disrupted leaving families struggling to get by. Children are the most vulnerable in any emergency. The big risks for these children in Sri Lankaare a shortage of food and drinking water and the danger of disease from being around so much dirty water."

Save the Children is also responding to floods in Mozambique. These two weather-related emergencies are the first of many the aid agency expects to respond to this year. In a report in April 2007 Save the Children predicted that in the next decade, up to 175 million children were likely to be affected every year by the kinds of natural disasters brought about by climate change.