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30-11-2025
COLOMBO: Landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains have caused more than 40 deaths in Sri Lanka, where the authorities have stopped passenger trains and closed roads in some parts of the country, officials say.
The government’s Disaster Management Centre on Thursday said 25 of the reported deaths occurred in the mountainous tea-growing regions of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya in central Sri Lanka about 300km (186 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.
Another 21 people were missing due to landslides in the same areas while 10 people were injured, the centre said.
Sri Lanka began experiencing severe weather last week, made worse by downpours over the weekend that wreaked havoc by flooding homes, fields and roads.
Reservoirs and rivers have overflowed, blocking roads. Some key roads connecting the provinces have been closed, officials said.
Authorities stopped trains in some areas in the mountainous region after rocks, mud and trees fell onto railway tracks. Local television showed workers removing the debris. In some areas, floods have inundated the tracks.
Local television showed an air force helicopter rescuing three people stranded on the roof of a house marooned by floods while navy and police used boats to transport residents.
Footage also showed a car being swept away by floodwaters near the eastern town of Ampara, about 410km (256 miles) east of Colombo, killing three passengers.
This week’s weather-related toll is the highest since June last year when 26 people were killed due to heavy rains. In December, 17 people were killed by flooding and landslides.
The worst flooding this century was in June 2003 when 254 people were killed.
Sri Lanka depends on seasonal monsoon rains for irrigation and hydroelectricity, but experts have warned that the country faces more frequent floods due to the climate crisis.
Meanwhile, heavy rains continue to cause widespread flooding and landslides across Southeast Asia and have claimed several more lives as authorities mobilize to try to help. One person was confirmed to have been killed in Vietnam on Monday, bringing the death toll in the country to 91 people in just over a week. A further eight victims died in Thailand, mainly caused by electrocution and other flood-related accidents, according to authorities.
Vietnam’s weather agency has warned that the heavy rainfall that has been lashing the country since October could return later this week, posing an extra risk in some areas. Nearly half of Vietnam’s more than 100 million people live in flood-prone areas.
The highest number of casualties recorded in Vietnam has come in the mountainous central province of Dak Lak, where at least 63 people have drowned.
Deaths have also been reported in the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Da Nang, Hue and Quang Tri as Vietnam’s south-central region has been plagued with severe flooding and landslides.
The Southeast Asian country has suffered at least $500m in damage as a result of the relentless rainfall, with entire city blocks inundated and agricultural lands submerged. Infrastructure damage has left 1.1 million households and businesses without power, while more than 200,000 houses, 200,000 hectares (494,210 acres) of crops, and 1,157 hectares (2,859 acres) of fish farms were inundated.
The government has deployed tens of thousands of personnel to deliver food, medicine and other essentials, with helicopters used to provide relief in some flood-stricken areas and highlands. It has disbursed cash aid and 4,000 tonnes of rice to flood victims. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
