Cyclone Ditwah: Flood disaster sparks volunteerism in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan actor and musician GK Reginold travels on a motorized fishing boat through the suburbs of Colombo in the hope of bringing food and water to those who desperately need it.

Some of the families, Reginold says, have not received help for days, isolated by the worst climate disaster this South Asian island nation has suffered in recent years.

Cyclone Ditwah hit the country last week, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides that killed more than 400 people, left hundreds missing and destroyed 20,000 homes.

But the deluge has also inspired volunteerism among its people, who are facing what their president has described as the “most challenging natural disaster” in their history.

“The main reason I wanted to do this is to at least help them have a meal,” Reginold tells the BBC. “And I was so happy that I was able to do that.”

More than a million people have been affected by the disaster and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency.

Sri Lanka’s military has deployed helicopters for rescue operations, while humanitarian aid arrives from foreign governments and non-governmental organisations.

But it will be a long road to recovery for Sri Lanka, which has suffered its fair share of turmoil in recent years.

In Colombo’s Wijerama neighborhood, activists who protested against former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 are now helping run a soup kitchen that produces food aid.

The protests three years ago were fueled by a growing economic crisis that caused shortages of fuel, food and medicine. Public anger exploded and led to Rajapaksa’s overthrow. Now, that political activism is being channeled into cyclone relief.

“Some volunteers came after work, others took turns and some even asked each other’s permission to be there,” Sasindu Sahan Tharaka, a social media activist, tells the BBC.

“We reactivated the group as soon as we found out what was happening last Thursday,” he says.

Sahan also sees cooking as an “extension” of his volunteer work in 2016, when torrential rains and flooding killed 250 people across the country.

Volunteers collected hundreds of requests for help, sent them to authorities and organized food distribution to residents, Sahan says.

“Everything we asked for, the community response was more than enough,” he says.

There is also a lot of activity happening online, where social media users have created a public database to direct donations and volunteers.

Another volunteer-supported website helps donors find relief camps and what is most needed in those areas.

Private companies have organized donation drives, while local television channels have launched an initiative to provide food and basic necessities such as soap and toothbrushes.

Facing criticism for his handling of preparations for Cyclone Ditwah, President Dissanayake has urged Sri Lankans to “put aside all political differences” and “come together to rebuild the nation”.

Opposition politicians have accused authorities of ignoring weather warnings, which they say exacerbated the impact of the disaster.

On Monday, opposition lawmakers staged a walkout in parliament, alleging that the ruling party was trying to limit debate over the disaster.

On the ground, however, a feeling of unity persists as Sri Lankans recover from the floods.

“In the end, the joy of helping another person save lives makes the tiredness go away,” Sahan wrote in a Facebook post on Monday, after working long hours in the community kitchen in Wijerama and other aid sites.

“Disasters are not new to us. But the empathy and capacity of our hearts is greater than the destruction that occurs during a disaster.”