Kamal Ghorui
Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday issued fresh landslide warnings as persistent rains battered regions already devastated by Cyclone Ditwah, intensifying what officials describe as the island’s worst natural disaster in decades. At least 618 people are reported dead, with many still missing as rescue teams struggle to reach isolated communities.A chain of tropical storms and monsoonal downpours has cut a destructive path across Southeast and South Asia over the past two weeks. The storms have triggered landslides, flooded wide stretches of land, and severed access to remote settlements from Sumatra’s rainforests to Sri Lanka’s hill country. Across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, at least 1,812 people have died in the unfolding regional crisis, AFP reported.
In Sri Lanka alone, more than two million people nearly 10 per cent of the population have been affected. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) warned that continuing monsoon storms were making hillsides increasingly unstable, particularly in the central mountains and north-western midlands. Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft were deployed to supply communities cut off by landslides, while the Sri Lanka Air Force confirmed it had received a planeload of relief supplies from Myanmar.Authorities have reported 618 deaths and 209 people unaccounted for, with the central tea-growing region suffering the highest number of casualties. The count of people in state-run shelters has fallen to 100,000 from a peak of 225,000 as waters recede. According to the DMC, nearly 75,000 homes were damaged, including almost 5,000 completely destroyed.The Sri Lankan government on Friday announced a major compensation plan enabling survivors to purchase land in safer zones and rebuild homes. Additional assistance will cover school supplies, household essentials and rent for families not accommodated by the state. AFP reported that a compensation of one million rupees will be offered for each person killed or permanently disabled.According to the UN news, Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on November 28 before looping back over the Bay of Bengal, unleashing some of the worst flooding Sri Lanka has experienced since the early 2000s. The worst-affected districts include Gampaha, Colombo, Puttalam and Mannar, along with Trincomalee and Batticaloa, while lethal landslides in the central hill country have ravaged Kandy, Badulla and Matale.
