Question: How many people were killed in the worst flooding in Sri Lanka in 56 years?

Context paragraphs:
8th Parliament of Sri Lanka: The 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 1977 parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977.  The United National Party won a 5/6 majority to form a government under J.R. Jayewardene.  later Mr Jayawardane introduce a new constitution to Sri Lanka and was elected the 1st President of Sri Lanka.  The government extended their term to stay in power in 1983 with out an election and stayed in power until 1989.  The 1982 Sri Lankan national referendum took place on December 22, 1982, giving the people of Sri Lanka the option to extend the life of parliament by 6 years.  It was the first and so far only national referendum to be held in Sri Lanka. [1] The referendum was called for by President J. R. Jayawardene, who had been elected to a fresh six-year term as President in October 1982.  With the life of the current parliament due to expire in August 1983,

Sri Lankan Portuguese creole: Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese, Ceylonese Portuguese Creole or Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole (SLPC) is a language spoken in Sri Lanka.  While the predominant languages of the island are Sinhala and Tamil, the interaction of the Portuguese and the Sri Lankans led to the evolution of a new language, Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole (SLPC), which flourished as a "lingua franca" on the island for over 350 years (16th to mid 19th centuries).  SLPC continues to be spoken by an unknown, extremely small population.  All speakers of SLPC are members of the Burgher community: descendents of the Portuguese and Dutch who founded families in Sri Lanka.  Europeans, Eurasians, and Burghers account for 0.2% of the Sri Lankan population.  Though only a small group of people actually continue to speak SLPC, Portuguese cultural traditions are still in wide practice by many Sri Lankans who are neither of Portuguese descent nor Roman Catholics.  SLPC is associated with the Sri Lanka Kaffir people, an ethnic minority group.  SLPC has been considered the most important creole dialect in Asia because of its vitality and the influence of its vocabulary on the Sinhalese language.  Lexical borrowing from Portuguese can be observed in many areas of the Sinhalese language.  Portuguese influence has been so deeply absorbed into daily Sri Lankan life and behavior that these traditions will likely continue into perpetuity.

Buddhist Cultural Centre: Buddhist Cultural centre (BCC) in Sri Lanka was founded by Ven.Kirama Wimalajhoti Thera who had returned to Sri Lanka after twenty years of dedicated missionary activity in Malaysia, Singapore and USA.  It was inaugurated on January 2nd 1992 under the auspices of Ven.Dr.K.Sri Dhammananda Thera, the chief prelate of Malaysia and Singapore and a plethora of other internationally famed Buddhist scholar monks of the time.  It sought to fill a lacuna of the devoted Buddhists in Sri Lanka and the rest of the world.  What made Ven.Wimalajhoti thera start the BCC was the dearth of Buddhist publications in Sri Lanka notwithstanding its reputation as a country where Buddhism prevails in its pristine form.  This fact was pointed to Ven.Wimalajhoti thera by some of his foreign neophytes who had arrived in Sri Lanka to learn Buddhism when they had strolled quite unsuccessfully all over the outskirts of Colombo along with him in search of some Buddhist publications.

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2013: The 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; ) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 15 to 17 November 2013.  Commonwealth leaders agreed on Sri Lanka as the 2013 host for the meeting when they met in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in 2009.  Sri Lanka, which was originally slated to host the summit in 2011, was accused of committing atrocities during the Sri Lankan civil war and the summit was instead held in Perth, Australia; Colombo was given the 2013 summit instead.  The leaders of Canada, Mauritius, and India boycotted the summit, citing alleged human rights violations by Sri Lanka against its Tamil minority.  Protests were also banned during the summit.  President Mahinda Rajapaksa summarised the summit's events as: "Issues covered in the communique include development, political values, global threats, challenges and Commonwealth cooperation."  However, the meeting was overshadowed by controversy over Sri Lanka's human rights record and the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the civil war.  This was the first time in 40 years that the Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II, was not present at the CHOGM.

2003 Sri Lanka cyclone: In May 2003, a tropical cyclone officially called "Very Severe Cyclonic Storm BOB 01" produced the worst flooding in Sri Lanka in 56 years.  The first storm of the 2003 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, it developed over the Bay of Bengal on May 10.  Favorable environmental conditions allowed the system to intensify steadily while moving northwestward.  The storm reached peak maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h (85 mph) on May 13, making it a very severe cyclonic storm according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which is the official Regional Specialized Meteorological Center for the basin.  The cyclone drifted north over the central Bay of Bengal, gradually weakening due to heightened wind shear.  Turning eastward, the storm deteriorated to a deep depression on May 16 before it curved northeastward and re-intensified into a cyclonic storm.  It came ashore in western Myanmar and dissipated over land the following day.

Equal Ground: Equal Ground is a non-profit organization based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, that advocates for political and social rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), intersex and queer people.  The organization, established in 2004, claims to be the first organization in Sri Lanka that welcomes people of all sexual orientations and gender identities... The organization was founded by Sri Lankan gay rights activist Rosanna Flamer-Caldera and offers trilingual publications and services.  It aims to achieve its goals through political activism, education, personal support, building awareness and through organized community events.  It has been working more closely with lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in areas of human rights, law reform, sexual health, and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  The organization continues to face many challenges working in Sri Lanka where homosexuality is stigmatized and considered criminal offense that can earn up to ten years of prison under the law.  Efforts of the LGBT activists to undo the British colonial law criminalizing sodomy was not repealed, but the law was expanded to include women and the penalty was worsened.  Queer groups in Sri Lanka have frequently stated that some of their members have been subjected to harassment—by blackmail or by threats with exposition or arrest—by police and other people, using the legal provision.

Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka: Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka are Tamil people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka.  They are also known as Hill Country Tamils, Up-Country Tamils or simply Indian Tamils.  They are partly descended from workers sent from South India to Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in coffee, tea and rubber plantations.  Some also migrated on their own as merchants and as other service providers.  These Tamil-speakers mostly live in the central highlands, also known as the Malayakam or Hill Country yet others are also found in major urban areas and in the Northern Province.  Although they are all termed as Tamils today, some have Telugu and Malayalee origins as well as diverse South Indian caste origins.  They are instrumental in the plantation sector economy of Sri Lanka.  In general, socio-economically their standard of living is below that of the national average and they are described as one of the poorest and most neglected groups in Sri Lanka.  In 1964 a large percentage were repatriated to India, but left a considerable number as stateless people.  By the 1990s most of these had been given Sri Lankan citizenship.  Most are Hindus with a minority of Christians and Muslims amongst them.  Politically they are supportive of trade union derived political parties that have supported most of the ruling coalitions since the 1980s.

2003 North Indian Ocean cyclone season: The 2003 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was mostly focused in the Bay of Bengal, where six of the seven depressions developed.  The remaining system was a tropical cyclone that developed in the Arabian Sea in November, which was also the only system that did not affect land.  There were three cyclonic storms, which is below the average of 5.4.  Only one storm formed before the start of the monsoon season in June, although it was also the most notable.  On May 10, a depression formed in the central Bay of Bengal, and within a few days became a very severe cyclonic storm.  After it stalled, it drew moisture from the southwest to produce severe flooding across Sri Lanka, killing 254 people and becoming the worst floods there since 1947.  Damage on the island totaled $135 million (2003 USD).  The storm eventually made landfall in Myanmar on May 19.  It is possible that the storm contributed to a deadly heat wave in India due to shifting air currents.

Sri Lanka lowland rain forests: The Sri Lanka lowland rain forests represents Sri Lanka's Tropical rainforests below 1000 m in elevation in the southwestern part of the island.  The year-around warm, wet climate together with thousands years of isolation from mainland India have resulted in the evolution of numerous plants and animal species that can only be found in rain forests in Sri Lanka.  The thick forest canopy is made up of over 150 species of trees, some of the emergent layer reaching as high as 45 m .  The lowland rain forests accounts for 2.14 percent of Sri Lanka's land area.  This ecoregion is the home of the jungle shrew, a small endemic mammal of Sri Lanka.  Sri Lanka has the highest density of amphibian species worldwide.  Many of these, including 250 species of tree frogs, live in these rain forests.

Radio Society of Sri Lanka: The Radio Society of Sri Lanka (RSSL) is a national non-profit organization for amateur radio enthusiasts in Sri Lanka.  RSSL was founded on July 1, 1950 as the Radio Society of Ceylon by amateur radio operators, most of whom had originally been licensed under the authority of the British colonial administration.  The organization would formally change its name to Radio Society of Sri Lanka in 1974, two years after the official name change of the country.  RSSL operates a QSL bureau for those amateur radio operators in regular contact with amateur radio operators in other countries, and supports amateur radio operating awards and radio contests.  The Radio Society of Sri Lanka represents the interests of Sri Lankan amateur radio operators before national and international regulatory authorities.  RSSL is the national member society representing Sri Lanka in the International Amateur Radio Union.

Supporting paragraphs: 2003 North Indian Ocean cyclone season 2003 Sri Lanka cyclone
Answer: 254 people