Sri Lanka cyclone survivors afraid to go home, stuck in relief centres

Residents of Kithulbadde village in central Sri Lanka say they have been left in the lurch after last week's deadly cyclone and many are stuck in relief centres as damaged infrastructure has made them wary of returning home.

About 479 people were killed in the storm, which brought intense winds and the worst floods in a decade, and affected 1.2 million. Another 350 are missing, government data shows.

With the cyclone leaving deep fissures in the earth and cracked walls in homes, many of those in relief facilities are staying put.

"People are scared to go home, they don’t feel safe," said Madullegedera Chandralatha, 57, a resident of Kithulbadde, a scenic village nestled in the midst of hills among tea plantations.

A total of 1,289 houses across the country have been destroyed by Cyclone Ditwah, while 44,500 more are partially damaged, according to the government, which is collecting data to provide "long-term solutions" to those living in high-risk areas.

RELOCATING IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT AID, RESIDENTS SAY

Prasanna Shantha Kumara’s home is among those affected, its living room lined with deep gashes and the walls cracked in several places.

The 48-year-old now shuttles daily between the relief centre, to which he has moved with his wife and three children, and his home, attempting to revive his capsicum crop that was flattened by floods and is slowly dying.

Many others do a similar commute daily to tend their tea plots and vegetable patches of chillies and cabbage, or to check on their pets, returning to the relief centres at night.

"I have lost my house, and my crop...What are we going to do? How can we live like this? We need help," Kumara told Reuters.

Dr. Gamini Jayatissa from the government-run National Building Research Organisation urged residents on Thursday to leave areas with fissures in the ground, warning fresh rains could trigger landslides.

Residents of Kithulbadde - most of them day labourers plucking tea, growing vegetables and rearing goats - dismissed the possibility of relocation on their own.

"Where are we going to go? We are surrounded by hills...We don’t have the financial capacity to leave everything and restart life elsewhere by ourselves,” said Vasanthi Kumari, 54.