Heavy Rains Slow Sri Lanka’s Massive Clean-Up After Floods and Landslides Kill Nearly 500

Heavy rains returned to Sri Lanka on Friday, hampering a vast clean-up operation after last week’s catastrophic flooding and landslides that left nearly 500 people dead, officials said.

Authorities recorded up to 132 millimeters of rainfall in the island’s south over a 15-hour period ending Thursday night. Although the latest deluge was intense, officials noted that the widespread flooding seen earlier in the week had begun to ease.

The Disaster Management Center (DMC) said 486 people have been confirmed dead and 341 remain missing after Cyclone Ditwah barreled out of the country on Saturday, triggering record rainfall and deadly landslides across multiple districts.

The number of people sheltering in state-run refugee camps has fallen to 170,000 from a peak of 225,000 as water levels recede in Colombo and surrounding areas.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake described the disaster as the most severe natural calamity in Sri Lanka’s history. Residents evacuated from the landslide-prone central highlands have been urged not to return home yet, even if their houses were spared, due to unstable mountainsides.

In the central town of Gampola, residents and volunteers worked to clear mud and debris.
“We are getting volunteers from other areas to help with this clean-up,” said Muslim cleric Faleeldeen Qadiri at the Gate Jumma Mosque.
“It takes 10 men a whole day to clean one house,” said a volunteer named Rinas. “No one can do this without help.”

Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Commissioner-General of Essential Services and the top official overseeing recovery efforts, said the government is providing 25,000 rupees ($83) for cleaning each home. Reconstruction costs are estimated at $6–7 billion, and families whose houses were destroyed will receive 2.5 million rupees ($8,300) to begin rebuilding. More than 50,000 homes had been damaged as of Friday morning.

Chandrakeerthi’s office said nearly three-quarters of the country’s electricity supply has been restored, though parts of the hardest-hit Central Province remain without power or phone service.

President Dissanayake declared a state of emergency on Saturday and pledged to rebuild with international assistance.