Sri Lanka’s death toll from Cyclone Ditwah climbed to 334 on Monday, with 370 people still missing and more than 1.1 million displaced, the Disaster Management Office (DMO) said, as rescue and recovery operations continued across the island.
The worst impacts were reported from the central hill country, where landslides devastated communities in the Kandy district.
Officials said 88 people were confirmed dead in the area and 150 remained missing, with new displacements continuing through Sunday as unstable slopes triggered fresh slides.
In Badulla, another heavily affected hill district, 71 deaths were recorded and 53 people were unaccounted for, according to the DMO.
Overall, more than 196,790 displaced people have been relocated to 1,494 government-run shelters.
Cyclone Ditwah caused widespread damage to essential infrastructure, knocking down power lines, disrupting telecommunications, blocking key road networks and damaging several bridges, officials said.
Meteorologists described Ditwah as an unusually slow-moving system that formed late near Sri Lanka’s coastline and lingered over the island for more than two days, releasing unprecedented volumes of rain and triggering severe flooding and landslides nationwide.
Authorities said search, relief and evacuation efforts remain ongoing, though access to many affected areas continues to be limited by debris and damaged roads.
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