COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — At least 37 people were killed in landslides and flash floods and hundreds of thousands were displaced, Sri Lankan officials said on Wednesday, as torrential rains and gusting winds continued to lash the country just days after the beginning of the monsoon season.

Rescue workers recovered at least 15 bodies from two major landslides in the Kegalle district, about 75 miles east of the capital, Colombo, said Pradeep Kodippili, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Center of Sri Lanka. Officials said the death toll from the flooding was likely to rise.

One of the landslides buried three villages in the mountainous region of Aranayake, claiming at least 14 lives, with more than 130 people still missing and feared dead, said Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe, the commanding officer in charge of the rescue operation.