Catastrophic Floods in Sri Lanka: 69 Dead, 34 Missing as Military Conducts Mass Rescue Operations

Sri Lanka is currently facing one of its most severe flooding disasters, with the death toll rising to 69 people and 34 others reported missing as heavy rains continue to devastate the island nation.

Military forces are conducting urgent rescue operations to save hundreds of stranded citizens as floodwaters continue to rise across the country. Helicopters and naval vessels are being deployed to rescue residents who have sought refuge on rooftops, treetops, and in villages isolated by the surging waters.

According to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), the number of fatalities has increased as more bodies are recovered in central regions, where most victims were buried alive by mudslides earlier this week.

Rainfall continues across the island, with some areas receiving as much as 360 millimeters within a 24-hour period. The Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean near Colombo, has now overflowed its banks.

V.S.A. Ratnayake, a 56-year-old resident of Kaduwela near Colombo, was forced to evacuate his flooded home. "I believe this could be the worst flood in our area for three decades," he told AFP. "I recall a flood in the 1990s when my house was submerged under seven feet of water."

Another Kaduwela resident named Kalyani, 48, reported that she is currently providing shelter to two families whose homes were inundated by floodwaters.

The disaster has damaged at least 3,000 homes, with over 18,000 people relocated to temporary shelters. In Anuradhapura district in northern Sri Lanka, an Air Force Bell 212 helicopter rescued a man who had climbed a coconut tree to escape the rising waters.

The DMC has warned that additional rainfall is expected as Cyclone Ditwah is projected to move from the north toward Tamil Nadu in southern India by Sunday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences for the loss of life and announced that India is sending emergency aid. "We stand ready to provide more aid and assistance as the situation evolves," Modi stated on social platform X.

DMC officials anticipate that flood levels could exceed those of 2016, when 71 people perished nationwide.

Local television network Sirasa TV broadcast an appeal from a distressed woman: "We are six people, including a one-and-a-half-year-old child. If the water rises another five steps up the staircase, we will have nowhere to go."

Dozens of stranded tourists have been evacuated to Colombo from the central tea-growing regions.

Although Sri Lanka is currently in its northeast monsoon season, rainfall has intensified due to Cyclone Ditwah, according to the DMC. While the country depends on seasonal monsoon rains for irrigation and hydroelectric power, experts warn that Sri Lanka faces increasingly frequent floods due to climate change.

This week's weather-related casualties represent the highest toll since June last year, when 26 people died following heavy rains. In December, flooding and landslides claimed 17 lives.

The most devastating flood in Sri Lanka's recent history occurred in June 2003, when 254 people lost their lives.