UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Catherine Bragg flew Thursday to a village in northern Mullaittivu district, a former stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels that saw much destruction during their failed war for independence.

She met UN agency and government officials as well as teams working to clear land mines left from the war. She also visited people who were forced from their homes during the fighting. Most of the 300,000 displaced people returned to their villages only to find their homes destroyed.

Several thousand refugees remain in camps, awaiting relocation.

Returnees living in temporary huts made of a few roof sheets with little or no furniture told Bragg that they need help to rebuild their homes and complained of hospitals not having enough doctors.

Bragg later visited the country’s east, where government officials briefed her about the devastation caused by recent flooding.

Much of the water has receded but rice crops ready for harvesting were dead and rotting. Mud homes were washed away.

After returning to the capital, Colombo, she was to launch a $51 million appeal for flood victims.

The flooding killed 43 people and left four missing. More than 1 million people were affected, with about half facing food shortages and the threat of waterborne diseases.

Some 5,700 houses were destroyed and 23,000 others damaged. Vast rice fields were inundated, and thousands of cattle, goats and poultry were lost. About 67,000 water wells were contaminated, and 11,000 were destroyed.

Schools were heavily damaged and instruction materials for students were also urgently needed.

“I hope donors will respond rapidly to help the survivors of these devastating floods, which have hit many people who were desperately vulnerable to begin with,” a UN

statement quoted Bragg as saying.

“These floods are an enormous and tragic setback for a community that is slowly rebuilding their lives following the 2004 tsunami and recovering from the decades-long conflict.”