Vesak celebrations were muted Saturday in Colombo and elsewhere compared to previous years when the entire city was decorated with lanterns and coloured lights.
Sri Lanka’s navy and the air force operated boats in some of the worst-hit areas, ferrying people to shelters and taking food to those stranded, officials said.
President Maithripala Sirisena urged Sri Lankans to provide shelter and donate cash or food to flood victims as offers of assistance came in from overseas.
Officials said there had been a huge outpouring of sympathy for victims with donations of food, clothing and dry rations.
The DMC said 22 of Sri Lanka’s 25 districts had been affected. Around 300,000 people have been moved to shelters while a further 200,000 were staying with friends or family.
The meteorological department says the rains were caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, ahead of the arrival of the southwest monsoon.
Almost a third of people had been moved from the low-lying capital, which has a population of about 650,000.
The district of Kegalle, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Colombo, has been the worst hit, with the toll from two separate landslides rising to 39.
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