Cyclone Ditwah, one of the most ferocious storms to ever strike Sri Lanka, tore across the island last week with record-breaking rainfall that triggered catastrophic mudslides and flooding, claiming at least 465 confirmed lives while authorities now hold out virtually no hope for the 366 individuals still listed as missing beneath tonnes of earth and debris in the hardest-hit central and eastern provinces.

The scale of destruction has forced the government to announce a preliminary reconstruction cost of six to seven billion dollars, a figure that encompasses rebuilding tens of thousands of homes, restoring collapsed industries, repairing hundreds of kilometres of roads and bridges, and rehabilitating vital public infrastructure, according to Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Commissioner-General of Essential Services, who is coordinating what is already being described as the largest recovery operation in the nation’s history.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addressing senior officials on Tuesday, openly admitted that the disaster has landed at the worst possible moment, striking just as Sri Lanka was beginning to emerge from its crippling 2022 economic crisis that saw the country default on $46 billion in external debt, exhaust foreign reserves, and trigger mass protests that toppled a president, leaving the current administration dependent on a $2.9 billion IMF bailout and strict austerity measures that limit domestic fiscal space for emergency spending.

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While international pledges are being urgently sought, immediate relief efforts include cash grants of 25,000 rupees ($81) to every affected household for debris removal and basic sanitation, and compensation of up to 2.5 million rupees ($8,100) for families whose homes were completely destroyed; meanwhile, more than 1.5 million citizens have been impacted, over 200,000 remain housed in state-run shelters, and large swathes of the central hill country continue to be inaccessible due to landslides that have buried entire villages and severed all road and telecommunication links.

In a deliberate show of defiance and economic necessity, Sri Lankan authorities ensured that a luxury cruise liner docked without interruption at Colombo port on Tuesday, with the Tourism Board issuing a statement declaring that the successful arrival sends an unequivocal message to the world that, despite receding floodwaters still lapping at the capital’s streets, the country remains safe, fully operational, and eagerly ready to welcome visitors once again.

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