Strong winds swept across four divisional secretariats of the Galle District on Sunday (17), damaging 44 houses, two commercial buildings, and infrastructure, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) stated. “As a result of the winds, 37 houses in the Elpitiya North, one in the Elpitiya East, five in the Atakotte, and one in the Elpitiya Central Divisional Secretariats were damaged. Two small and medium-sized enterprises have been damaged and infrastructure has been severely affected. The District Disaster Management Co-ordinating Unit (DDMCU) of the Galle District with the relevant stakeholder agencies and the armed forces, co-ordinated the disaster recovery process,” DMC Director General Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe said. As of 17 May, the total number of persons affected by the adverse weather stood close to 3,000 from nearly 800 families. Over 500 houses were partially damaged while nine houses were fully damaged, along with 105 commercial buildings. The strong winds had also caused damage to infrastructure, causing power outages in some parts of the Galle District on Sunday. The National Disaster Relief Services Fund is to be used to rectify the damage caused, once the National Disaster Relief Services Centre (NDRSC) has assessed the damage. Meanwhile, the Galle DDMCU is to co-ordinate with the Galle District Secretariat to provide immediate relief to the affected people. Department of Meteorology Director General Athula Karunanayake said that the cyclonic storm Amphan intensified throughout the course of yesterday (18) and lay centred near latitude 13.2°N and longitude 86.3°E, about 765 km northeast of Trincomalee over central parts of south Bay of Bengal. It is likely to move northeastward towards the West Bengal Coast during the afternoon of 20 May. Last afternoon, the Department of Meteorology warned that Amphan is likely to intensify further into a “super cyclone”. “The prevailing showery conditions over the island, particularly in the southwestern part, are likely to continue further. Very heavy showers above 150 mm are likely at some places. Wind speed can increase up to 60-70 kmph at times over the island. Cloudy skies can be expected over the island. Showers or thundershowers will occur in the Southern, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, and North Western Provinces with isolated, very heavy showers exceeding 150 mm,” Karunanayake explained. He added that showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the North and North Central Provinces and showers or thundershowers will occur in the afternoon or night elsewhere. The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damage caused by lightning activity during thundershowers. Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the sea areas around the island with heavy showers expected at some places in the sea areas extending from Puttalam to Pottuvil via Colombo, Galle, and Hambantota. Winds will be south-westerly in the sea area around the island. Wind speed will be 50-55 kmph. Wind speed can increase up to 70-80 kmph at times in the sea area extending from Puttalam to Pottuvil via Colombo, Galle, and Hambantota. The sea areas around the island can be fairly rough and the sea area extending from Puttalam to Trincomalee via Colombo, Galle, Hambantota, and Pottuvil will be very rough at times. Naval and fishing communities were requested to be vigilant in this regard, while subsequently the Department of Meteorology yesterday (18) warned fishermen not to set out to sea until further notice.