At least 18 people have died during the monsoon flooding, in which the centre and east of the island have been worst hit, the government said.
Rising water levels and continued rain have swamped vast tracts of land and cut off towns and villages.
A spokesman for the disaster management centre in the capital Colombo said that the district of Batticaloa, which saw heavy fighting in the civil war that ended in 2009, was badly affected after heavier than usual seasonal rains.
“Some 533,000 people have been displaced in Batticaloa district alone, where we have set up 225 camps to accommodate them,” the spokesman said, adding that a total of 955,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.
Bad weather forced President Mahinda Rajapakse to abandon a helicopter tour of flood-affected areas on Wednesday.
“It was the duty of all to join hands and help them (the victims) at this hour of need without any discrimination or petty considerations,” Rajapakse said in remarks published in the state-run Daily News.
Security forces have been assisting the relief operations and 3,000 soldiers have already been deployed in the east. Air force helicopters and navy boats were also helping out, officials said.
Sri Lanka depends on monsoon rains for irrigation and power generation, but the seasonal downpours frequently cause death and damage to property in low-lying areas.
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