Floods hit Sri Lanka’s capital as cyclone deaths top 200

COLOMBO: Low-lying areas of Sri Lanka’s capital were flooded on Sunday after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, killing at least 212 people and leaving many more missing.

Officials said the extent of the damage in the island’s worst-affected central region was only just being revealed as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said at least 212 people had died following a week of heavy rains brought on by Cyclone Ditwah, while 218 people were missing.

The northern parts of Colombo were flooded as the water level in the Kelani River rose rapidly since Saturday, when mandatory evacuation orders were issued.

“Although the cyclone has left us, heavy rains upstream are now flooding low-lying areas along the banks of the Kelani River,” a DMC official said.

A helicopter from India that joined the relief efforts rescued 24 people on Sunday, including a pregnant woman and a man in a wheelchair, marooned in the central town of Kotmale, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) northeast of Colombo.

Pakistan was also sending rescue teams, the Sri Lankan Air Force said, while Japan will also send a team to assess Sri Lanka’s immediate needs and has pledged assistance.

The air force also said it had rescued two infants and a 10-year-old child from a hospital in the northern town of Chilaw, which was submerged on Saturday.

Sri Lanka declares emergency as toll from floods, mudslides hits 153

Authorities said flood levels in the capital would take at least a day to recede, while dry weather was also forecast. Cyclone Ditwah moved north towards India on Saturday.

‘Completely flooded’

Selvi, 46, a resident of the Colombo suburb of Wennawatte, left her flooded home on Sunday, carrying four bags of clothes and valuables.

“My house is completely flooded. I don’t know where to go, but I hope there is some safe shelter where I can take my family,” she told AFP.

Receding water levels in the town of Manampitiya, 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Colombo, revealed massive destruction.

“Manampitiya is a flood-prone town, but I have never seen such a volume of water,” said 72-year-old resident S. Sivanandan.

He told the local News Centre portal that businesses and property had been extensively damaged. A car had flipped upside down in front of his shop, he said.

A woman in central Wellawaya said she heard a loud noise and went outside to see boulders rolling down a mountainside before stopping near her home.

“I saw trees falling and moving with the boulders. We are afraid to go back to our homes,” she told reporters after moving to a shelter on safer ground.

Deadliest in years

The National Blood Transfusion Service said supplies were short even though there have been relatively few injuries.

Its chief, Lakshman Edirisinghe, said their daily requirement was about 1,500 units of blood but weather-related disruptions had reduced supply to just 236 units on Saturday.

“Because of floods and heavy rains, we were unable to conduct our mobile campaigns to collect blood,” he told reporters in Colombo. “We appeal to donors to visit the nearest blood bank.”

The National Building Research Organisation, which monitors the stability of hills, said there was a high risk of further landslides because mountain slopes were still saturated with rainwater.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared a state of emergency on Saturday to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone and appealed for international aid.

The extreme weather system has destroyed more than 25,000 homes and sent 147,000 people into state-run temporary shelters.

Nearly a million people required assistance after being displaced by the floods, the DMC said.

The cyclone is Sri Lanka’s deadliest natural disaster since 2017, when flooding and landslides claimed more than 200 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands.

The worst flooding since the turn of the century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.