FLOODS IN SRI LANKA ( Photo updated)

Photos Courtesy: Getty Images, AP

[January 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)

Sri Lankans affected by the floods take refuge in a makeshift camp in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa on January 15, 2011. At least 37 people have been killed, 12 missing and over a million affected, as heavy rains lashed through Sri Lanka's north, east and central regions, destroying farmland in the island's rice bowl. The Indian government handed over one million dollars worth of relief supplies that included food, blankets, mattresses and water purification kits and tablets.

Sri Lankans affected by the floods take refuge in a makeshift camp in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa on January 15, 2011. At least 37 people have been killed, 12 missing and over a million affected, as heavy rains lashed through Sri Lanka's north, east and central regions, destroying farmland in the island's rice bowl. The Indian government handed over one million dollars worth of relief supplies that included food, blankets, mattresses and water purification kits and tablets.

A Sri Lankan flood victim performs a Hindu ritual on a boy who is also its victim during Pongal festival in Karaithivu, about 220 kilometers (137 miles) east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. As floodwaters slowly receded in the worst-hit Eastern Province, some people in Karaithivu village in eastern Ampara district came out and cleaned their houses for rituals marking the ethnic Tamils' traditional harvest festival.

An ariel photograph taken on January 15, 2011 shows Sri Lanka's motorway bridge submerged in flooded water after the bridge broke in the flood-hit eastern coastal district of Batticaloa. The threat of disease loomed over the million-plus victims of floods in eastern, northern and central Sri Lanka that have left at least 37 dead and devastated farmland in the island's rice bowl.

An ariel photograph shows Sri Lanka's flood-hit eastern coastal district of Batticaloa on January 15, 2011. The threat of disease loomed over the million-plus victims of floods in eastern, northern and central Sri Lanka that have left at least 37 dead and devastated farmland in the island's rice bowl.

An ariel photograph taken on January 15, 2011 shows Sri Lanka's flood-hit eastern coastal district of Batticaloa submerged in flood water. The threat of disease loomed over the million-plus victims of floods in eastern, northern and central Sri Lanka that have left at least 37 dead and devastated farmland in the island's rice bowl.

Sri Lankans affected by the floods take refuge in a makeshift camp in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa on January 15, 2011. At least 37 people have been killed, 12 missing and over a million affected, as heavy rains lashed through Sri Lanka's north, east and central regions, destroying farmland in the island's rice bowl. The Indian government handed over one million dollars worth of relief supplies that included food, blankets, mattresses and water purification kits and tablets.

A Sri Lankan flood victim Weerakutti Nesamma carries a pot of drinking water at her submerged compound in Kartivu, about 220 kilometers (137 miles) east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. The United Nations said it will launch an emergency appeal for funds to help those affected by floods that have ravaged Sri Lanka's east for days.

Sri Lankans affected by the floods take refuge in a makeshift camp in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa on January 15, 2011. At least 37 people have been killed, 12 missing and over a million affected, as heavy rains lashed through Sri Lanka's north, east and central regions, destroying farmland in the island's rice bowl. The Indian government handed over one million dollars worth of relief supplies that included food, blankets, mattresses and water purification kits and tablets.