Sri Lanka deploys troops as flood waters rise; death toll hits 69

COLOMBO – Sri Lankan troops were racing to rescue hundreds of people marooned by rising flood waters on Nov 28 as weather-related deaths rose to 69, with another 34 people declared missing.

Helicopters and navy boats carried out multiple rescue operations, plucking residents from tree tops, roofs and villages cut off by flood waters.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said the toll had climbed with the recovery of more bodies in the worst affected central region, where most victims were buried alive as mudslides hit.

Rain was falling across the island with some regions receiving 360mm in the past 24 hours, the DMC said.

The Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean near the capital Colombo, breached its banks on Nov 28.

A resident, Mr V.S.A. Ratnayake, 56, said he had to leave his flooded home in Kaduwela, just outside Colombo.

“I think this could be the worst flood in our area for three decades,” he said. “I remember a flood in the 1990s when my house was under 2m of water.”

Another Kaduwela resident, Ms Kalyani, 48, who uses only one name, said she was sheltering two families whose homes were flooded.

At least 3,000 homes were damaged, and over 18,000 people moved to temporary shelters. In Anuradhapura district in the north, a helicopter airlifted a man who had climbed a coconut tree to escape rising waters.

The DMC said more rain was forecast, with Cyclone Ditwah likely to move towards the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu by Nov 30.

Nowhere to go

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of life in Sri Lanka and said New Delhi was rushing aid. “We stand ready to provide more aid and assistance as the situation evolves,” he said on X.

DMC officials said they expected flood levels to be worse than in 2016, when 71 people were killed nationwide.

The Sirasa TV network broadcast an appeal for help from a desperate woman.

“We are six people, including a 1½-year-old child. If the water rises another five steps up the staircase, we will have nowhere to go,” she said by telephone.

Dozens of stranded tourists were evacuated to Colombo from the tea-growing central areas on Nov 28.

Sri Lanka is in its north-east monsoon season, but rainfall has intensified because of Cyclone Ditwah, the DMC said.

Sri Lanka depends on seasonal monsoon rain for irrigation and hydroelectricity, but experts have warned that the country faces more frequent floods due to climate change.

This week’s weather-related toll is the highest since June 2024, when 26 people were killed following heavy rain. In December that year, 17 people died in flooding and landslides.

The worst flooding this century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed. AFP