New Delhi [India], December 10 (ANI): Cyclone Ditwah has triggered one of the largest flood events in Sri Lanka’s recent history, submerging 1.1 million hectares—around 20 per cent of the country’s land mass—and exposing 2.3 million people to cyclone-induced flooding, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The cyclone made landfall on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast on November 28, bringing intense rainfall, widespread flooding and multiple landslides. The UNDP’s detailed impact assessment, conducted in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre, warns that the cyclone’s physical devastation is deepened by longstanding socioeconomic vulnerabilities across several districts.
According to the assessment, nearly 720,000 buildings were exposed to floodwaters, including 243 hospitals and hundreds of educational institutions. Some of the worst-hit administrative areas—such as Dimbulagala in Polonnaruwa, Kandavalai in Kilinochchi and Maritimepattu in Mullaitivu—recorded extensive flooding. Central highland districts, including Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and Kegalle, witnessed intense rainfall that triggered over 1,200 landslides.
The UNDP said its analysis incorporates satellite-based flood mapping, landslide data, infrastructure exposure and population density with its Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) to identify where cyclone impacts intersect with chronic socioeconomic fragilities.
“This analysis examines how disaster impacts intersect with pre-existing vulnerabilities and livelihood systems,” the report stated, noting that the layered approach highlights communities where recovery will be most challenging.
It added that more than half of the population living in the flooded areas was already grappling with multiple vulnerabilities before Cyclone Ditwah struck, including unstable incomes, high debt and limited capacity to cope with disasters. These conditions, UNDP warned, increase the risk that the immediate crisis could evolve into prolonged socioeconomic distress without targeted interventions.
Many of the districts experiencing the heaviest flooding—such as Batticaloa, Ampara, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Puttalam and Nuwara Eliya—were already among the most vulnerable, with high poverty levels, limited access to services and precarious livelihoods.
Damage to critical infrastructure has further complicated recovery efforts. More than 16,000 km of roads and 278 km of railway lines were exposed to flooding, along with over 480 road bridges and 35 rail bridges, severely disrupting mobility and access to essential services.
The UNDP stressed that early recovery efforts must prioritise debris clearance, rapid rehabilitation of community infrastructure, livelihood assistance, restoration of essential documentation and measures to safeguard vulnerable groups. Without swift and targeted support, the cyclone’s impacts could push already fragile communities deeper into long-term economic and social hardship. (ANI)
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