Governments brace for historic El Nino impacts on global weather extremes

Sri Lanka allocates $14m to fight severe Drought, delivering 75 litres of water to families every two to three days.Governments are preparing for heightened risks of Drought, flooding, extreme heat and Wildfires as a rapidly strengthening El Nino raises the prospect of a historic climate event later this year.Sri Lanka has arranged ⁠for water to be delivered to nearly 72,000 people across seven districts as the country tackles a Drought linked to this year’s powerful El Nino, a ⁠senior official said on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Wildfires burn across Indonesia as officials cite El Nino as a causelist 2 of 3Indonesian officials race to contain Wildfires as dozens of schools shutlist 3 of 3India’s severe monsoon season causes more than 100 deaths since Julyend of listWater levels at hundreds of small tanks in the country have dropped to about 10 percent. Families are expected to receive about 75 litres (20 gallons) of water every two to ‌three days for their drinking and sanitation needs during truck deliveries from parts of the country unaffected by the Drought.The government has allocated 4.8 billion rupees ($14m) from the budget for water distribution.Minister of Environment Dammika Patabendi told reporters the government expected El Nino to peak around November but ⁠now believed it would peak sooner.“We will revise and extend response measures as necessary,” he said.After September, Patabendi ⁠said, the year-end monsoons should bring heavy rain, but Drought could return at the beginning of next year.Indonesia, Peru, HondurasMeanwhile in Indonesia, the government says Wildfires have burned through more than 200,000 hectares (494,200 acres) since the start of the year, an area around three times the size of the sprawling capital Jakarta.In July alone, fires destroyed 95,000 hectares (234,750 acres) of land across Indonesia as dry conditions driven by a powerful El Nino weather pattern took hold.