Cyclone Ditwah has ravaged countries across the Indian Ocean basin for nearly a week, unleashing severe flooding, landslides and large-scale humanitarian distress. What began as a low-pressure system southeast of Sri Lanka on November 26 intensified into a deadly storm whose slow crawl along the island’s eastern rim proved catastrophic.

Sri Lanka needs around $7 billion to rebuild homes, roads and industries destroyed by Cyclone Ditwah, which so far has left at least 465 people dead.

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya met with diplomats in Sri Lanka last week to urge them to support the government’s efforts on relief and reconstruction.

A man holds up a food packet as he moves through mud after landslides triggered by heavy rainfall following Cyclone Ditwah, in Mawathura in Kandy district, Sri Lanka, December 3, 2025. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage MAWATHURA,