Friday, November 12th, 2010 — The heaviest rain in 18 years flooded Sri Lanka on Thursday, leaving about 36,000 families homeless, marooning traffic and submerging the country’s Parliament in four feet of water. The Ministry of Disaster Management said most of those affected are in the western province, which includes Colombo, the nation’s capital. About 33,000 families were being housed in 11 welfare centers in the city, the ministry said. According to the ministry, Thursday’s rainfall totaled 490 millimeters (19.3 inches), the worst in 18 years. The previous record was from June 1992, when 440 millimeters (17.3 inches) of rain fell.