Cyclone Ditwah unleashed strong winds and torrential rains as it made landfall on Friday. This triggered Sri Lanka’s worst flooding in 10 years and caused landslides in the central highlands. Rescue operations are now underway to clear blocked roads and provide assistance to more than half a million affected people.
As of 12:00 Monday, the official death toll was 340, with 370 people missing. The cyclone affected over 1 million people in over 300,000 families.
Here’s what eyewitnesses had to say
Flooding is a familiar problem in villages in Colombo’s northern suburbs, but even seasoned residents were shocked by the sudden and dramatic rise of the Kelani River.
Van driver Dinus Sanjaya said he ignored early warnings and only expected a few feet of water. Instead, within an hour, his two-story home was completely underwater.
Landslide survivors search for their belongings among the rubble of a damaged house in Sarasavigama village in Kandy, Sri Lanka, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)(AP)People rescue their belongings from a flooded house on the banks of the Kelani River after Cyclone Ditwah in Peliyagoda, Sri Lanka, December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage(REUTERS)A Buddhist monk gestures as he stands at a flooded temple in Wellampitiya, a suburb of Colombo, on December 1, 2025. At least 340 people have been killed, Sri Lankan officials said on December 1, and many more are still missing. (Photo: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)(AFP)Residents and their belongings take shelter in a rescue camp inside a school after being evacuated following flash floods in Wellampitiya, a suburb of Colombo, on December 1, 2025. At least 340 people have been killed, Sri Lankan officials said on December 1, and many more are still missing. (Photo: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)(AFP)
“I never thought the floods would be so bad,” said 37-year-old Sanjaya AFP at Vidyawardana School, where all his neighbors also took refuge on Monday.
Seamstress Nirushica (44) lost her livelihood in floods.
“I made a living running a small sewing business,” she said. “Both of my sewing machines are lost.
The opposition party leaves the parliament
Sri Lanka’s main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya, walked out of parliament on Monday to protest the government’s refusal to extend the session to discuss the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah.
Kabir Hashim of Samagi Jana Balawegaya said the party wanted to formally draw attention to the government’s lack of preparedness despite severe weather warnings expected to hit the island.
The National People’s Power (NPP) government said the opposition could speak freely until 12:30 p.m., as the House was due to adjourn early for disaster relief coordination work.
“We need more time to express our thoughts where the government has failed, with preparedness we could have prevented a lot of damage,” Hashim said, PTI reported.
TOPSHOT – A residential house inundated by floods in Wellampitiya, a suburb of Colombo, on December 1, 2025. At least 340 people have been killed, Sri Lankan officials said on December 1, and many more are still missing. (Photo: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)(AFP)
Bimal Rathnayaka, Leader of the House, said the government was open to criticism and ideas on how to handle the crisis and urged the opposition to use the scheduled time till 12:30 p.m.
Nearly 148,000 people are in makeshift shelters after being battered by downpours last week that flooded homes, fields and roads and triggered landslides, mainly in the central tea-growing hill country.
India’s “Operation Sagar Bandhu”
India launched “Operation Sagar Bandhu” to help Sri Lanka after the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah. After swift action, India assisted its neighbor with HADR, rescue and aid operations to provide relief and assistance to the country.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that as part of Operation Sagar Bandhu, Indian Air Force aircraft carrying disaster response supplies landed in Colombo on Sunday.
The Indian Air Force on Sunday announced that IAF C-17s had airlifted NDRF teams and equipment from Pune as part of Operation Sagar Bandhu. The ongoing operation connected to domestic support operations.
In this picture released on November 30, 2025, people are evacuated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from a cyclone-hit area as part of ‘Operation Sagar Bandhu’ in Sri Lanka. (@IAF_MCC/X via PTI Photo)(@IAF_MCC)
India launched “Operation Sagar Bandhu” to help Sri Lanka after the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah. The Indian Air Force has flown 21 tonnes of relief material along with more than 80 NDRF personnel and 8 tonnes of equipment to Colombo to help those affected by the severe floods.
The scale and speed of these missions underscores India’s unwavering commitment to assist Sri Lanka in its hour of need as the Indian Air Force provides rapid, coordinated and compassionate HADR support under challenging conditions.
Heavy rain lashing Tamil Nadu
Several parts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore and Ranipet, continued to receive light rainfall on Monday due to the remnants of cyclonic storm Ditwah, which remained close to the Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coast.
Earlier, on Sunday, three people died in rain-related incidents in three districts of the state.
Meanwhile, the IMD has predicted that the system, which has weakened into a deep depression, will further weaken and the remnants could produce rain.
It is likely to remain stationary as a weakened system for the next 24 hours, the IMD said.
Chennai: People pump out standing water amid heavy rains in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah in Chennai, Monday, December 1, 2025. (PTI Photo/R Senthilkumar) (PTI12_01_2025_000329A)(PTI)
With the continuous downpour leading to the cancellation of ten flights from here, causing waterlogging in many areas and affecting districts, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin held a meeting with the collectors and took stock of the situation arising from the impact of the cyclone.
Around 20 trees that fell or were uprooted due to the cyclone in Chennai from November 29 till today have been removed. A total of 32,500 people were given food on November 30, while another 83,600 people received food today, the GCC report said.
Private weather bloggers claimed that the intensity of rain is likely to increase in Chennai as heavy rain bands move into the city from the north. The cloud mass was now closer to the TN coast with most of the cold tops drifting towards the Chennai belt, PTI reported.
(With input from agencies)
