Second cyclone in a week threatens Sri Lanka, India

Colombo: Sri Lanka and southern India battened down the hatches for the second time in a week on Wednesday ahead of the scheduled arrival of another cyclone from the Bay of Bengal. Burevi will pack gusts of up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) an hour when it makes landfall late on Wednesday in Sri Lanka before moving west and hitting India around 24 hours later, forecasters said. Warning of a storm surge of a metre, and 20 centimetres (8 inches) of rain in places, Sri Lanka ordered a three-day closure of schools in the north and east and told fishermen to stay on land. (afp)