WATER levels in Sri Lanka began to recede slowly yesterday but tens of thousands of people marooned by severe flooding and mudslides remain in relief camps.

At least 194 people have been killed and nearly 100 are missing following the rains that began swamping the southern and western areas of the Indian Ocean island with a population of 20 million on Friday.

The weather has begun to clear and many of the more than 100,000 people who evacuated over the weekend have returned home to begin clearing debris and mud from their waterlogged homes.

More than 80,000 others are still stranded because their homes were destroyed or remain unreachable.

Normal road traffic is still not possible, said Predeep Kodipili of the Disaster Management Centre.

A third Indian naval ship arrived yesterday bringing relief supplies including rice, lentils, sugar, milk and blankets. Sri Lankan army lorries carried drinking water and food to those in need.

Helicopters ferried medicine, relief supplies and inflatable boats to remote areas while small vessels plied the floodwaters in search of people needing rescue.