According to the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, one of the country’s worst disasters in years has destroyed more than 20,000 homes and forced 108,000 people into state-run shelters as rescue operations continue, BBC reported.

Authorities confirmed that a state of emergency has been declared after nearly a third of the country was left without electricity and water in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah.

BBC noted that the highest number of casualties were recorded in Kandy and Badulla.

“We can t leave the village, and no one can come in because all roads are blocked by landslides — There is no food, and we are running out of clean water," villagers from Badullah said.

Multiple military operations have been carried out using helicopters to rescue flood victims stranded across the affected districts.

The Sri Lankan government has also appealed for international aid and urged citizens abroad to donate funds to support communities devastated by the disaster.

Cyclone Ditwah swept across Sri Lanka’s eastern coastline on Friday, November 28, 2025, triggering torrential downpours and sudden flash floods across vast regions.

Although the country is in its monsoon season, the rare extreme weather event is being described as one of the most destructive in recent years.

The floods in Sri Lanka come as Southeast Asia battles worsening inundations, intensified by tropical storms that have affected millions across Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Meteorologists believe the extreme weather across the region may be linked to the interaction of typhoons, with climate change altering storm behaviour, including intensity and duration, and resulting in heavier rainfall, stronger winds and sudden flooding.

Sri Lanka’s last major flooding disaster occurred in June 2023, when over 250 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.