Sri Lanka under the brunt of Cyclone Ditwah

Photo: depositphotos

Cyclone Ditwah caused $7 billion in damage in Sri Lanka, equivalent to three to five percent of the country's GDP, with several districts remaining isolated and emergency services struggling to respond to all the disasters.

The scale of the devastation is immense as the cyclone has gradually hit all twenty-five districts. In total, 1.4 million people are at risk of flooding, and 233,000 of them have chosen to use relief centers. The Commissioner General of Essential Services said that some legal provisions will need to be changed to speed up procedures.

The government has decided to temporarily resume imports of frozen vegetables as major vegetable growing areas in the central part of the country have been devastated by floods and landslides. The highest death toll has been recorded in the mountainous areas. The cities of Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Badulla have been hit the hardest by far.

In Sri Lanka, the house cleaning allowance has been almost tripled to 25,000 Sri Lankan rupees and will be paid without verification of ownership. Information from the Disaster Management Center shows that at least 783 houses have been completely destroyed. Damage is recorded in almost thirty-two thousand houses.

Telecom authorities said most of the disrupted services should be restored by around Thursday. Landslides and flooding have gradually knocked out 4,000 telecom towers, and 2,800 have already been restored.

Source: thehindubusinessline, Editorial Weathersunshine.com