Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre said in a statement that three people drowned in heavy rains and flooding in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, forcing authorities to evacuate around 7,000 people.

Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre said in a statement that heavy rains had caused power cuts and school closures in the capital Colombo and its suburbs.

About 134,000 people were affected by the floods, which inundated thousands of homes, fields and roads, while authorities were forced to cut power to some areas as a precautionary measure and deploy the navy and army to rescue victims, the statement said.

Sri Lanka has been experiencing severe weather conditions since May last year due to heavy monsoon rains and in June 16 people were killed in landslides caused by floods.