'We have nowhere to go': Sri Lankans still picking up the pieces after Cyclone Ditwah

Since 2016, Madam M. Devika, 54, has watched the Kelani River creep closer to her home.

- Chin Hui Shan

The floods that year had swept away her neighbour's house, and she and her family of nine others living in a one-storey home in Halmulla village in central Colombo had grown accustomed to yearly floods, which usually occur in July.

But on Nov 28, the scale of the disaster was like nothing she had witnessed before, she told The Straits Times on Dec 20, during a visit by the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) to Sri Lanka to help with disaster relief efforts.

The year-end flood was triggered by relentless rain and runoff from upstream waterways as Cyclone Ditwah tore through the island.

The cyclone made landfall on Nov 28, causing floods, dam breaches and landslides that devastated both rural and urban areas in Sri Lanka. Residents are now rebuilding their homes in attempts to return to normality.

Described as the "largest and most challenging natural disaster" in the country's history, the cyclone killed more than 640 people and displaced over 66,000.

A Dec 11 analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA) found that the deadly storms that ravaged the region were "supercharged" by higher sea temperatures and made worse by rapid deforestation. WWA is an international effort that analyses the possible influence of climate change on extreme weather events.

Almost a month since Cyclone Ditwah hit, the recovery process is still ongoing.

During a visit to Halmulla on Dec 20, ST saw homes whose concrete walls had fallen. Water marks stained walls and mud covered parts of floors. Some homes had no furniture, likely because the items were damaged or carried away by the flood.

Damaged homes, lost livelihoods and the looming threat of diseases such as dengue are making the recovery process challenging.