Sri Lanka has shut down schools across its central highlands after torrential rains triggered deadly mudslides and flash floods, killing at least seven people and injuring several others. Authorities say the heavy downpours, which have struck the country's mountainous interior over the past two days, damaged 129 houses and forced the evacuation of nearly 3,500 people.
Five of the deaths occurred when mudslides overran two houses in the central region, burying residents alive, while two others were killed in flooding, according to Pradeep Kodippili, spokesperson for the government's Disaster Management Centre. At least three people were wounded and two remain missing. Navy and army units have been deployed to reach residents trapped by floodwaters, with footage from local broadcaster Hiru TV showing troops wading through submerged streets to rescue stranded families. Huge rocks, mudflows and fallen electricity poles blocked several major roads in the affected area.
The worst-affected areas include the districts of Nuwara Eliya and Badulla in Sri Lanka's Central Province — a steep, tea-growing highland belt long recognised as highly prone to landslides during the monsoon season, when sustained rainfall saturates hillsides until they give way. The region is still recovering from the destruction wrought by Cyclone Ditwah last November, which killed nearly 640 people, affected two million others and caused an estimated $4.1 billion in damage. That storm hit the Central Province hardest, and the government continues to struggle with rebuilding roads, railways and homes there.
The latest disaster underscores how repeated bouts of extreme weather are placing severe strain on Sri Lanka's disaster response capacity within the same nine-month window. Mudslides and flooding are among the most destructive natural hazards the island nation faces each year, with the annual monsoon regularly forcing thousands from their homes. Authorities have not yet indicated when schools in the affected districts will reopen, saying the decision will depend on how weather conditions develop in the coming days.