COLOMBO, (AFP) - Sri Lanka appealed for 27 million dollars in urgent foreign aid to begin rebuilding areas devastated by unprecedented flooding that claimed 253 lives.

Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya, who is heading a disaster management committee, said the short-term reconstruction of homes, schools and other public buildings and roads would require about 27 million dollars in foreign aid.

"There is an enormous amount of international goodwill and we are very confident of getting this money for the short term reconstruction," Jayasuriya told reporters here.

He said the authorities were moving to start repairing 154 schools damaged by last month’s floods that ravaged four southern districts and one in south-central Sri Lanka.

He said the final death toll had been placed at 236 people killed and another 17 missing and presumed dead.

The minister said there had been an outpouring of help from both the local communities and foreign governments keen to help the hundreds of thousands of people who were affected by the floods as well as mudslides.

An estimated 139,000 families were displaced by flooding caused by unusually heavy rains.