‘We have to rebuild from scratch’: Sri Lankans relive the devastation of Cyclone Ditwah

The Guardian - World NewsCenter-LeftEN 4 min read 100% complete by Aanya Wipulasena in Colombo and Hannah Ellis-Petersen in DelhiDecember 2, 2025 at 01:01 AM

Read Original Article

AI Summary

long article 4 min

Cyclone Ditwah, the worst natural disaster in decades, devastated Sri Lanka, particularly the Badulla region. Heavy rains triggered widespread flooding and landslides, destroying homes and displacing over 1.1 million people. As of Monday, the death toll was confirmed at 366, with many still missing. Rescue efforts are underway, with the military assisting overwhelmed emergency services in providing aid to affected areas, including Colombo. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake described the disaster as the largest and most challenging in the country's history, with entire villages decimated and families left to rebuild their lives from nothing.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Anura Kumara Dissanayake ×280% Sri Lanka ×9100% Cyclone Ditwah ×6100%

Keywords

cyclone ditwah 100% natural disaster 90% sri lanka 90% flooding 80% landslide 70% badulla 70% rescue efforts 60% death toll 60% disaster management 50% rebuild from scratch 50%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.80

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.40)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Sri Lanka

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

cyclone ditwah natural disaster sri lanka flooding landslide badulla rescue efforts death toll disaster management rebuild from scratch

Explore Full Topic Graph