Sri Lanka deployed the military for relief and rescue operations on Friday as the death toll from floods and landslides across the island rose to 56, with another 21 people missing.

Helicopters, navy boats and thousands of troops are being used to evacuate stranded villagers in several parts of the country, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.

Rain was falling across the island's entire 65,000-square-kilometre (25,000-square-mile) area, with some regions receiving 360 millimetres in the past 24 hours, the DMC said.

The Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean near the capital Colombo, was expected to breach its banks later on Friday and residents were warned to move to higher ground.

Resident V. S. A. Ratnayake, 56, said he had to leave his flooded home in Kaduwela, just o

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