Sri Lanka issues landslide warnings as cyclone death toll rises to 618

• Over 2 million people were affected by the Sri Lankan cyclone.
• 209 people remain missing after the devastating storm.
• 75,000 houses damaged in cyclone devastation: Authorities
  

Sri Lankan authorities issued fresh landslide warnings on Sunday as rain battered areas already devastated by a powerful cyclone as the death toll rose to 618.

More than two million people – nearly 10% of the population – have been affected by last week’s floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah, the island’s worst this century.

The Disaster Management Center (DMC) said monsoon storms are adding more rainfall and destabilizing hill slopes, including the central highlands and northwestern midlands.

Helicopters and planes were used on Sunday to resupply communities cut off by landslides in the center of the country.

The Sri Lankan Air Force said it had received a planeload of aid supplies from Myanmar on Sunday, the latest batch of foreign aid.

The government has confirmed 618 dead, 464 from the lush green tea-growing central region, while 209 people remain missing.

The number of people in state-run refugee camps dropped to 100,000 from a peak of 225,000 as floodwaters receded across the island by Sunday, the DMC said.

More than 75,000 homes were damaged, including nearly 5,000 that were completely destroyed, he added.

The government on Friday unveiled a major compensation package to rebuild homes and revive businesses wiped out by the natural disaster, which has hit the island as it emerges from a 2022 economic collapse.

A senior official said earlier that recovery and reconstruction could cost up to $7 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday it was considering Sri Lanka’s request for an additional $200 million to help rebuild.

The money is on top of a $347 million tranche due later this month, part of a four-year, $2.9 billion IMF bailout loan agreed in 2023.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told parliament on Friday that Sri Lanka’s economy had made a significant recovery but was not strong enough to withstand the latest shock on its own.

Survivors will be offered up to LKR 10 million ($33,000) to buy land in a safer location and build a new home, the finance ministry said in a statement late Friday.

One million LKR is offered as compensation for each person killed or permanently disabled.

The government did not say how much the package would cost, raising concerns because of the country’s recent economic turmoil.

The central bank instructed commercial lenders, both state-owned and private, to reschedule loans.