Lessons that should be learnt from Ditwah

Cyclonic storm Ditwah, named as such by Yemen referring to Detwah lagoon in one of its islands, caused severe devastation in Sri Lanka though it was categorised a weak tropical cyclone.

- BY DR UPUL WIJAYAWARDHANA

When it hit on Thursday 27th November, the main problem was the unprecedented rain, some areas experiencing over 500 millimetres in 24 hours. Fortunately, wind speeds were not high reaching a maximum of only 45 mph, the sort of wind speed not infrequently encountered in the UK. In contrast, Hurricane Melissa, a category 5 storm which struck Jamaica, just a month ago, had winds reaching 185 mph! Though it was the most powerful storm to hit Jamaica ever, causing extensive damage across the island due to strong winds with added torrential rainfall causing landslides, the death toll was only 54 with further 15 people reported missing. It affected Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Haiti as well, with a further 48 deaths. Jamaicans were forewarned and were well prepared. It looks as if this did not happen in Sri Lanka. Though politicians are fighting over this aspect, despite it being not the priority, it is never too early to learn lessons. My comments that follow should not, in any way, detract from the very positive actions the government has taken and continues to do so, as well as the heroic efforts of volunteers putting their own lives at risk.

I did not realise the enormity till Friday (28) evening, when Ven. Teldeniyaye Amitha, who conducts a fortnightly Mindfulness meditation session over Zoom, told the participants that we should instead do Kindness meditation in view of the catastrophic situation in Sri Lanka. As soon as the session was over, I switched on to YouTube and was shocked by the images of destruction seen. When I contacted a good friend of mine in Kandy on Saturday 29th afternoon, what he told me made me realise that there were no warnings at all.