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Storm expected to trigger heavy to extremely heavy rain across much of southern India from Friday
Stuti MishraFriday 28 November 2025 09:33 GMTComments
open image in galleryPeople wade through a flooded road in Biyagama, on the outskirts of Colombo (AFP via Getty Images)
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At least 56 people were killed as Cyclone Ditwah intensified rainfall and landslides in Sri Lanka before moving along the island nation’s eastern coast towards India.
More than 44,000 people were affected and 21 remained missing, according to the Disaster Management Centre, in Sri Lanka’s worst weather disasters in many years.
Days of torrential rain triggered major slope failures, swollen rivers and widespread inundation. Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa were among the worst-hit areas, with homes buried and entire communities cut off.
The rainfall intensified as Ditwah formed off Sri Lanka’s east coast and strengthened the southwest monsoon flow, pulling moisture over the island and driving some of its heaviest downpours in years.
Ditwah, which formed over the Bay of Bengal, was upgraded to a cyclonic storm by the India Meteorological Department on Thursday.
As of 5.30am India time on Thursday, forecasters said the storm was located just off Sri Lanka’s eastern coast and tracking slowly north-northwest.
open image in galleryMap from Indian Meteorological Department shows Cyclone Ditwah’s path and arrival time (IMD)The storm is expected to skirt Sri Lanka’s coastline before re-emerging over the Bay of Bengal and moving towards the coast of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh in India’s south by Sunday, according to the weather department. It is expected to trigger heavy to extremely heavy rain across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and parts of Andhra Pradesh from Friday.
In view of the approaching storm, Tamil Nadu placed parts of the delta and northern coastal belt under a red alert, including Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Chengalpattu and Tiruvarur.
The metropolitan city of Chennai and nearby areas were put under an orange alert for possible flooding and transport disruption. Fishermen were warned to stay ashore and people in low-lying areas were asked to prepare for potential evacuations.
Some regions in the neighbouring Karnataka state were also expected to see increased rainfall.
The weather department did not forecast a direct landfall but warned the system would pass close enough to produce damaging winds, flooding and dangerous sea conditions.
Rainfall brought by Cyclone Ditwah was forecast to continue into early December.
In Sri Lanka, the risk from rainfall was expected to continue on Friday as several rivers continued to rise. A red-level flood warning had been issued for low-lying areas along the Kelani river basin, including parts of the capital Colombo, over the next 48 hours, the irrigation department said.
Vavuniya and Mullaitivu recorded more than 300mm of rain in 24 hours, with several other places exceeding 200mm.
open image in galleryA flooded hospital after heavy rains is seen in Chilaw, north of Colombo (AP)The worst losses were reported in the central tea-growing region of Badulla, where a landslide crashed into homes overnight, killing at least 21 people, the disaster agency said in a statement.
Social media video showed houses being swept away as floodwaters surged through towns while major highways linking provinces were cut by landslides and inundation.
Sri Lanka’s weather department warned of “heavy to extremely heavy rain” in the island nation’s northern, north-central, northwestern, central provinces as well as parts of eastern and western provinces as the cyclone continued to feed moisture into the monsoon flow.
The Sri Lankan government shut schools and some public offices in the badly affected regions and deployed nearly 20,500 army personnel for search-and-rescue and relief operations.
open image in galleryA woman and child walk under a downpour in Colombo, Sri Lanka (AP)All passenger trains, except for a handful of essential services, were cancelled from 6am on Friday because tracks in multiple districts were damaged or submerged, the railway department said.
Students sitting for A-Level exams had their tests postponed due to the disruption.
open image in galleryPeople walk past a section of a highway blocked by a landslide in Badulla, Sri Lanka (AP)Sri Lanka experiences annual monsoon rains, but officials say events of this scale are rare.
The worst flooding this century occurred in 2003, when 254 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.
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