A catastrophic cyclone has left Sri Lanka grappling with widespread trauma and loss, as hundreds are confirmed dead and many more remain unaccounted for.
In the central district of Alawathugoda, Nawaz Nashra recalls the moment her three-year-old daughter was snatched from her arms and wrapped in a bedsheet as a landslide, driven by Cyclone Ditwah, tore through their home. She and her pregnant sister, who shared their residence, spent the next twenty minutes scrambling down the hillside, sometimes wading through deep mud, until they reached a mosque at a lower elevation where they spent the night.
“It was pitch dark… We could only hear something that sounded like thunder,” Nashra told Reuters. “The house next to ours collapsed as we watched. There was no time to warn anyone.”
Around ten homes in the neighborhood were swept away by the cyclone, and at least 25 people were feared dead as residents returned with long poles on Tuesday to dig through the mud and search for bodies.
Across South and Southeast Asia, deadly storms have battered multiple countries in recent days, devastating large areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, and claiming hundreds of lives.
In Sri Lanka, the worst-hit region is the Kandy area, where Alawathugoda lies. The region has recorded 88 deaths—the highest toll in the country—while about 150 people remain missing. More than 20,000 residents have been relocated to 176 emergency shelters prepared to house them.
Nationwide, authorities say 336 people are missing and roughly 1.2 million people have been affected. Security and rescue teams, including hundreds of army and police personnel, are combing landslide-prone areas to recover victims.
Crews have deployed bulldozers and backhoes to clear mud, fallen trees, and debris from roads so food, water, and fuel can reach impacted communities. Efforts are also underway to restore communications and electricity, which were disrupted after strong winds damaged transmission lines.
Nearby, another neighborhood in Alawathugoda shows similar damage, with several houses partially ruined and a jumble of phones, books, and belongings scattered in the muddy debris. Residents voiced concerns about crowded emergency facilities and inadequate sanitation.
One resident, 43-year-old Manjula Jayalath, described the grim choice many face: continue sheltering in crowded spaces with limited bathrooms, or risk travel to uncertain safety elsewhere.
Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; writing by Sakshi Dayal; editing by Thomas Derpinghaus and Sharon Singleton.
