Cyclone Ditwah kills over 460 in Sri Lanka, $7 billion needed for recovery

Sri Lankan authorities have said the country will require around $7 billion to rebuild homes, industries and infrastructure destroyed by Cyclone Ditwah, which has killed at least 465 people and left 366 others missing.

The cyclone, which brought record rainfall across the island last week, triggered devastating mudslides and floods, leaving large swathes of the country underwater, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

“Our initial estimate is that we will need about six to seven billion dollars for the reconstruction,” said Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Commissioner-General of Essential Services, who is leading the recovery effort.

The government has announced that families affected by the disaster will receive 25,000 rupees ($81) to help clean their homes, while those who lost their houses entirely could receive up to 2.5 million rupees ($8,100).

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said international assistance would be essential to finance the recovery, as Sri Lanka continues to emerge from its worst economic crisis in decades. He declared a state of emergency on November 29 and pledged to rebuild with foreign support.

“We were just coming out of the economic crisis when we were hit by this disaster, which is the biggest challenge faced by any government,” Dissanayake told top officials on December 2.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion external debt in April 2022 after exhausting foreign exchange reserves, sparking months of protests that forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign. Since then, the country has received a $2.9 billion IMF bailout, stabilising the economy, though austerity measures remain in place.

Floodwaters in the capital, Colombo, were receding on December 3, but some of the hardest-hit areas in the central hills remain inaccessible, with authorities working to restore roads and communication networks. More than 1.5 million people have been affected by the disaster, with around 200,000 in state-run shelters.

By Aghakazim Guliyev