More than 125 houses and a government building were damaged in a mini cyclone that hit parts of the Amapra and Batticaloa districts last evening, Police said.
The cyclone hit Tirukkovil, Thambulvil, Mandani and Kalliyanthivu in the Ampara district causing damage to houses and the College of Education at Thalankuda in Batticaloa.
Among the houses that were damaged were 50 recently-built houses for tsunami victims, police said adding that a welfare centre in Kalliyanthivu where 20 tsunami-refugee families were living was also damaged. They said roads in the area were impassable as trees had been uprooted and power lines had fallen across them.