Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has stepped up emergency relief after Cyclone Ditwah triggered deadly landslides across the country’s central tea highlands, flattening entire slopes and cutting off mountain towns.
The disaster comes as parallel storms and monsoon floods sweep Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, pushing Asia’s combined death toll beyond 1,300.
“The country is under water, and the situation is serious even in the cities. The entire nation has been hit by torrential rains and flooding. We are seeing much suffering and people who have lost everything,” Father Basil Rohan Fernando, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Sri Lanka, told Vatican’s Fides News Agency.
“For this reason, the entire Catholic Church has joined the national relief and reception efforts,” the priest added.
Disaster officials cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported at least 465 people killed and 366 missing after landslides tore through Nuwara Eliya, Welimada and nearby districts.
Helicopters have been ferrying supplies over slopes stripped bare, as roads remain buried under mud, rock and uprooted vegetation.
Journalists on an air force mission described vast “ochre wounds” carved into the mountainsides. Roofs from collapsed homes poked through the mud, while others were completely submerged.
In Welimada, rescuers recovered 11 bodies on Monday and said dozens more may be trapped beneath the debris.
Large portions of tea plantations and factories were destroyed, though the full impact on the industry is still being assessed.
With heavy vehicles unable to enter the region, helicopters from Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan are evacuating residents and delivering food and medical supplies.
National emergency
Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on Nov. 27, triggering floods, dam breaches and landslides that devastated both rural and urban areas.
Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center said about 20,000 homes were damaged and more than 100,000 people sought shelter in emergency centers.
A third of the country lost electricity and running water.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake called the disaster “one of the worst in the country’s history” and appealed for international aid.
With official rescue teams overstretched, Church institutions have become crucial safe havens.
“National unity is crucial,” Father Fernando said. “All the country’s healthy forces and people of goodwill are working together to alleviate the suffering of the victims.”
He said parishes, convents and Catholic schools “are already housing displaced people, who have found refuge, acceptance, and comfort there.”
Caritas volunteers, he added, are working “without distinction of ethnicity or faith.”
Christian communities from various denominations are providing food, water, hygiene kits and pastoral support.
“Supporting the displaced,” the priest said, “is also psychological and spiritual. A gesture of love, affection, and closeness means a great deal in such situations; listening and human warmth are a testament to God’s love for every person.”
Regional crisis widening
Sri Lanka’s emergency is part of a larger regional disaster. Governments and aid groups in Indonesia and Sri Lanka worked Tuesday to rush aid to hundreds of thousands stranded by deadly flooding that has killed more than 1,300 people in four countries.
Across Indonesia’s Sumatra, at least 712 people have died, and 500 remain missing. The disaster agency said 1.2 million people have been displaced.
Communities in Aceh described sudden surges of water that tore through villages as “unstoppable, like a tsunami wave.” Fuel shortages and blocked roads have sparked panic-buying.
Southern Thailand has recorded at least 176 deaths, while Malaysia confirmed additional fatalities in its northern regions.
Meteorologists said warmer oceans and a hotter atmosphere are increasing the intensity of rainfall and “turbocharging” storms, with several regions recording their highest November totals since 2012.
Long recovery ahead
Floodwaters in Colombo have begun to recede, but landslide warnings remain across the central highlands. Officials expect the death toll to rise as teams regain access to isolated areas.
Cyclone Ditwah is now Sri Lanka’s deadliest disaster since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
As reconstruction begins, Father Fernando said the Church will continue to accompany communities long after the emergency phase.
“A gesture of love, affection, and closeness means a great deal in such situations,” he said.
