RESPONSE: Heavy rains during the monsoon season causes death and destruction; and (below) flooding in Biyagama

EARLY ACTION THIS SEASON HELPED SAVE MORE LIVES THAN IN THE PAST SRI LANKA’S weather and dis­aster offices have, for years, faced criticism for not providing adequate early warning about extreme weather – a problem that may have contributed to widespread deaths and dis­placement from mudslides and flooding, critics say. But this year that is changing, with government agencies issu­ing a series of early warning alerts about potential threats. On May 22, the Disaster Man­agement Centre put out a land­slide warning, relayed from the National Building Research Or­ganisation, that reached scores of landslide-prone villages in the districts of Rathnapura, Kalutara, Kegalle…