Ditwah floods 20% of Sri Lanka, triggers 1,200 landslides, heightens food insecurity: UNDP

CYCLONE Ditwah inundated 1.1 million hectares, or about 20% of Sri Lanka's land area, and exposed 2.3 million people to flooding, according to new UNDP geospatial analysis that expands on earlier assessments of the country's worst flooding disaster in decades.

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The cyclone also triggered nearly 1,200 landslides across the hilly interior, compounding access constraints and slowing rescue operations.

UNDP's integrated analysis shows that the greatest early recovery needs are in areas where flooding and landslides converge with preexisting socioeconomic vulnerability.

Divisional Secretariats such as Mundel and Arachchikattuwa in Puttalam, Kandavalai in Kilinochchi, and several locations in the central highlands face overlapping pressures from damaged homes, disrupted livelihoods, and reduced access to basic services compounded by weakened local governance systems.

These communities are unlikely to recover without targeted interventions that stabilise incomes, restore mobility, and reconnect essential services.