New Delhi [India], December 10 (ANI): Cyclone Ditwah caused one of Sri Lanka’s largest recent flood events, submerging about 1.1 million hectares—roughly 20% of the country’s land—and directly exposing 2.3 million people to cyclone-driven flooding, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.
The cyclone made landfall on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast on November 28, bringing intense rainfall, widespread inundation and multiple landslides. UNDP’s impact assessment, conducted with Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre, warned that these physical impacts are compounded by deep pre-existing vulnerabilities in several districts.
Nearly 720,000 buildings were exposed to flooding, including 243 hospitals and hundreds of educational institutions. Severely affected administrative areas included Dimbulagala (Polonnaruwa), Kandavalai (Kilinochchi) and Maritimepattu (Mullaitivu). Central highland districts—Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and Kegalle—recorded intense rainfall that triggered more than 1,200 landslides.
UNDP said its analysis combines satellite-derived flood mapping, landslide data, infrastructure exposure and population density with its Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) to show where cyclone impacts intersect with chronic socioeconomic fragilities. The report noted that over half of the people in flooded areas were already living in households facing multiple vulnerabilities—unstable income, high debt and limited capacity to cope with disasters.
Many of the hardest-hit districts—Batticaloa, Ampara, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Puttalam and Nuwara Eliya—were already among the most vulnerable, with high poverty levels, limited access to services and fragile livelihoods. Damage to essential infrastructure further complicated recovery: more than 16,000 km of roads and 278 km of railways were exposed to flooding, along with over 480 road bridges and 35 rail bridges, severely affecting mobility and access to services.
UNDP urged that early recovery prioritise debris clearance, rapid rehabilitation of community infrastructure, livelihood support, restoration of documentation and measures to protect vulnerable groups. It warned that without swift, targeted assistance the cyclone’s impacts could push already fragile communities into prolonged socioeconomic distress. (ANI)
