Sri Lanka appealed for international assistance on Saturday as the death toll from heavy rain and flooding caused by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123 and another 130 were reported missing.
The extreme weather system has destroyed nearly 15,000 homes, sending nearly 44,000 people to temporary state-run shelters, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said.
Director General Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations had been strengthened with the deployment of thousands of troops from the army, navy and air force.
“We have 123 confirmed dead and another 130 missing,” Kotuwegoda told reporters in Colombo.
Cyclone Ditwah was moving away from the island on Saturday and heading towards neighboring India to the north, but it had already left enormous destruction in its wake.
“Relief operations are being carried out with the help of the armed forces,” Kotuwegoda said.
Fresh landslides hit the central district of Kandy, 115 kilometers east of Colombo, and the main access road was underwater in several places.
“Fiber optic cables have broken in many places and mobile phones are not working as base stations have been flooded,” said a DMC official. AFP.
He said a special unit had been deployed to restore communication lines as several remote areas remained inaccessible by road following landslides in the mountainous tea-producing regions.
The government appealed for international aid and asked Sri Lankans abroad to make cash donations to help nearly half a million affected people.
Officials said Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya had met Colombo-based diplomats to brief them on the situation and seek help from their governments.
PM says Pakistan ready to extend support
India was the first to respond, sending two planeloads of relief supplies, while an Indian warship already in Colombo on a pre-planned goodwill visit donated its rations to help the victims.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences for the loss of life in Sri Lanka and said New Delhi was willing to send more aid.
“We are ready to provide further help and assistance as the situation evolves,” Modi said on X.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was ready to provide “any support in rescue, recovery and relief efforts as a symbol of our solidarity with our Sri Lankan brothers and sisters.”
“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the people and government of Sri Lanka in this time of grief,” he said.
Flooding in low-lying areas worsened on Saturday, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders for those living along the banks of the Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean from Colombo.
The Kelani overflowed on Friday night, forcing hundreds of people to seek temporary shelters, DMC said.
Rain had eased in most parts of the country, including the capital, but some northern parts of the island were still experiencing rain due to the residual effects of Cyclone Ditwah.
DMC officials said they expected flood levels to exceed those recorded in 2016, when 71 people died across the country.
This week’s weather-related death toll is the highest since June last year, when 26 people died following heavy rain. In December, 17 people died due to flooding and landslides.
The worst floods Sri Lanka has experienced since the turn of the century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people died.
