# UNDP: Cyclone Ditwah Among Sri Lanka’s Worst Flood Disasters in Decades

- Link: https://www.weather.lk/undp-cyclone-ditwah-among-sri-lankas-worst-flood-disasters-in-decades/
- Published: 2025-12-09T20:56:04+05:30
- Author: Weather LK

Cyclone Ditwah ranks among the most severe flooding disasters to strike Sri Lanka
in recent decades, according to new geospatial analysis released by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP). The findings reveal that floodwaters submerged nearly**
20% of the country’s land area**, amounting to **more than 1.1 million hectares**.

The report further shows that **2.3 million people** live within the inundated zones,
with **women representing more than half** of the exposed population. Nearly **60%
of those affected** reside in the densely populated **Colombo and Gampaha** districts,
where the pressure on essential services has intensified sharply.

UNDP warns that the crisis is deepened by existing economic vulnerabilities. More
than half of the affected households were already grappling with **instability, 
high debt, and poverty** when the cyclone made landfall on **28 November**.

UNDP Resident Representative **Azusa Kubota** cautioned that Sri Lanka cannot absorb
additional debt to fund reconstruction in the wake of its recent economic crisis.
She urged international partners to extend **affordable financing**, warning that
the nation risks slipping off a “**debt cliff**” without urgent global support.

The physical destruction is vast. Nearly **720,000 buildings**—roughly **one in 
every twelve** across Sri Lanka—are now situated in flood-affected areas. Damage
to transport infrastructure is widespread, with **16,000 kilometres of roads** and**
almost 500 bridges** impacted. In the central highlands, around **1,200 landslides**
have isolated numerous remote communities.

Concerns over **food security** continue to grow, as floodwaters submerged **530,000
hectares of rice paddy**, threatening future harvests and livelihoods.

**Devanand Ramiah** of the UNDP Crisis Bureau noted the rapid escalation of overlapping
crises in Sri Lanka, stressing that recovery will be “slow and costly” in regions
where severe flooding intersects with ongoing economic fragility.

In response, the UN and national authorities are urging **scaled-up early recovery
assistance** to re-establish critical transport links and support the nation’s most
vulnerable groups, including **children and the elderly**.