Sri Lanka: Cyclone Ditwah - Situation Report No. 09 (As of 06 March 2026)

This report is produced by the Office of the Resident Coordinator Sri Lanka in collaboration with humanitarian partners and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. It covers the period from 21st February to 06th March 2026.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Over 250,000 people have been reached by the Humanitarian Priority Plan (HPP) response to date, implemented by 68 partner organizations across 25 Districts. Most of the people reached are female and 4400 are Persons with Disabilities. The 5W online dashboard serves as a repository for all response interventions.
• While displacement has declined from peak levels, more than 153,000 people remain displaced, staying with host families or other locations. Safety centres have reduced to 32, hosting over 43,831 families (149,927 individuals) in Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Kandy and Kegalle Districts.
• National authorities have continued to scale up the rollout of national relief programmes to affected individuals and households, reportedly reaching over 400,000 people to date, with varying rates of completion across different categories.
• While the overall response across national and local authorities and humanitarian partners has progressed well, emerging patterns indicate that the most vulnerable, including estate communities and those relying on informal or unrecognized livelihoods, landholding or housing, remain disproportionally impacted and may remain outside some of the assistance schemes.
• Land assessments for safe return and resettlement remains a key bottleneck. Tent-based camps are being established or planned in Badulla, Kegalle and Nuwara Eliya. The HCT is liaising with authorities to gain further information and provide adequate, multi-sectoral support as needed. Capacity-development support on temporary site planning, coordination and management is ongoing.
• Out of the required funding of US$35.3 million to implement the HPP, US$23.4 million has been pledged or received to date. Underfunded sectors remain Health, Agriculture, Early Recovery and Nutrition.
• At the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, the Humanitarian Country Team launched the HPP on 11 December 2025 to support 658,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by cyclone Ditwah between December 2025 and April 2026.

1.2M Affected people

658K Targeted for assistance

646 Fatalities

114K Damaged houses partially/fully

233K Displaced at its peak

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Cyclone Ditwah has triggered the most extensive flooding and landslide damage in the past two decades in Sri Lanka, impacting approximately 2.2 million people across all 25 districts of the country. According to the Disaster Management Center, the cyclone had, as of 29 December 2025, resulted in 646 fatalities and left 173 people missing. Findings from the Joint Rapid Needs Assessment – Phase II, conducted by the Government in collaboration with humanitarian partners, highlight critical sectoral impact and priorities. While displacement has declined from peak levels, more than 153,000 people remain displaced or are staying with host families, indicating emerging protracted and dispersed displacement patterns.

Safety centres have reduced to 32, hosting over 43,831 families (149,927 individuals) in Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Kandy and Kegalle Districts. However, with most affected people now living with host families or within communities, supporting vulnerable groups, particularly women and children, has become more complex. In remaining centres, critical gaps persist in child-friendly spaces, safe spaces for women and girls, mental health and psychosocial support and access to dignity items.

In Badulla and surrounding districts, partners report continued access and service disruptions due to damaged roads, unsafe facilities, and increased public health risks from compromised water and sanitation systems. While no communicable disease outbreaks have been reported in welfare centres, screenings and essential medicine provision continue, alongside hospital service reconfiguration, including relocations and mergers, to maintain coverage for isolated communities.

Urban water supply has largely been restored through temporary and interim measures; however, many rural community water systems remain damaged, with some yet to be assessed due to access constraints. Sanitation response efforts continue to face limitations due to equipment shortages and inadequate infrastructure.

The National Building and Research Institute (NBRI) has issued official guidelines for the resettlement of families whose homes were fully destroyed by floods, landslides, or other disasters, as well as those identified as living in high-risk landslide zones due to Cyclone Ditwah. The NDRSC has published the resettlement and evacuation lists. The NBRI remains under-resourced, and the UN has developed a joint proposal for essential capacities for advanced drone-based hazard mapping, on-site engineering inspections, and ready-to-use slope stabilization designs to accelerate land clearance and enable safe reconstruction.

National authorities have continued implementing around 15 different targeted support measures, reaching over 400,000 households across all 25 districts. One-time assistance including support for house and debris cleaning, restoration of furniture and kitchens, and supplementary education allowances for children have reportedly been almost fully completed nationwide. The first installment of the three-month livelihood compensation has reportedly also been disbursed across all 25 districts. The six-month rental allowance for households with fully damaged houses is underway and the full resettlement beneficiary lists have been published by the NDRSC. Other payments are underway pending verification of beneficiaries’ lists. The HCT has been made aware of potential exclusion errors, affecting particularly most vulnerable households with informal livelihoods or families without land titles, and will work with authorities on addressing these issues. Households without formal land documentation face significant barriers in accessing full reconstruction grants, excluding them from available assistance and delaying recovery.

On 27 February 2026, the Ministry of Defence convened a high-level After-Action Review on Cyclone Ditwah to identify critical response gaps and strengthen the national disaster management framework. The 69th session of the National Disaster Management Coordination Committee (NDMCC) was convened on 4th March 2026. The session focused on reviewing response and recovery efforts related to Cyclone Ditwah, with particular attention to identifying lessons learned, operational challenges, and best practices.

A Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) to estimate damages, losses, and short- and long-term recovery needs, based on the build back better principle, has been undertaken by the Government with support from the UN, the European Union, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. The findings are currently being validated and finalized, and the full report, including details on damage, losses, and recovery needs, as well as the recovery strategy, is expected to be released by the end of the month.