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Cyclone Ditwah Latest Update: The death toll due to floods and landslides in Sri Lanka has increased to 56 and 21 people are still missing. The government has declared Friday a public holiday except for those engaged in essential services. The Disaster Management Center (DMC) said at least 46 deaths have been recorded in the last 72 hours as adverse weather conditions continue to affect the island. In view of the emergency situation, the government has declared Friday a public holiday except for those engaged in essential services. Disaster management officials said that 43,991 people from 12,313 families have been affected by the extreme weather conditions. Meanwhile, Cyclonic Storm Ditvah is located near Trincomalee, the eastern district of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Flood: The impact of Cyclonic Storm Senyar, which emerged from the Bay of Bengal, is not over yet as another disaster has started wreaking havoc. On Friday, another cyclone Ditvaha has wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka. Ditwah has not made landfall yet, yet it has started showing its impact. So far 56 people have died due to the storm, rain and landslide that continued since late night, while 21 people are still missing. The Meteorological Department has warned that the storm may become more intense when it reaches the entire island in the next 12 hours.
More than 300 mm (11.8 in) of heavy rain has fallen in the last 24 hours. Most of the deaths occurred due to the landslides caused by this. Cyclone Ditvah has wreaked havoc on the island nation even before landfall. The Disaster Management Center (DMC) said in a statement that 43,991 people were evacuated to schools and other public shelters across the country. Right now hundreds of families are trapped under the roofs and floods, the process of rescuing them is going on.
‘Lockdown’ in Sri Lanka
Due to heavy rains in Sri Lanka, schools were closed, train services were stopped and Colombo Stock Exchange was closed. There is a situation of lockdown in the entire country. Emergency Operations Director at DMC, Brigadier S. “We are continuing rescue operations in the worst-hit areas, but some villages are difficult to reach because roads are blocked due to landslides… We are trying our best to evacuate everyone,” Dharmawickrama told Reuters.
