Cyclone Ditwah Devastates Sri Lanka: 123 Dead, 130 Missing as Climate Disaster Forces Mass Evacuations

Sri Lanka is grappling with one of its most severe natural disasters in recent memory as Cyclone Ditwah continues to wreak havoc across the island nation. The death toll has climbed to 123 people, while rescue teams desperately search for 130 individuals still reported missing, according to the country’s Disaster Management Centre.

The cyclone has unleashed a week of relentless torrential rains, triggering devastating floods and deadly landslides that have torn through communities nationwide. The extreme weather has forced nearly 44,000 residents from their homes, with families now seeking refuge in government-operated emergency shelters as rescue operations work around the clock.

“Relief operations are underway,” confirmed Sampath Kotuwegoda, Director General of the Disaster Management Centre, as authorities coordinate massive humanitarian efforts to assist displaced populations. The scale of destruction has left thousands of homes uninhabitable, creating an urgent housing crisis amid the ongoing emergency response.

This disaster highlights Sri Lanka’s vulnerability to increasingly intense tropical cyclones, a pattern scientists link to climate change effects in the Indian Ocean region. As rescue teams race against time to locate missing persons and provide aid to survivors, the full environmental and human cost of Cyclone Ditwah continues to unfold. The government has mobilized all available resources for search and rescue operations while working to ensure adequate supplies reach the tens of thousands now dependent on emergency shelters for basic needs.