Sri Lanka shuts schools as floods and mudslides kill 7

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.

The heavy downpours struck the country’s mountainous tea-growing region, which is still struggling to recover from the devastation of Cyclone Ditwah. The storm killed nearly 640 people and caused an estimated $4.1bn in damage when it struck last November.

Pradeep Kodippili, the spokesperson for the government’s Disaster Management Centre, said that five people died after being buried in mudslides that overran two houses in the central region, and two others were killed in floods. Rains and flooding have damaged 129 houses and forced the evacuation of nearly 3,500 people, he said.

Authorities have deployed navy and army units to reach residents trapped by the floodwaters, with local broadcaster Hiru TV showing troops wading through submerged streets to rescue stranded families.

Sri Lanka’s central region, including the districts of Nuwara Eliya and Badulla, sits on steep terrain long recognised as prone to landslides during the monsoon season, when saturated hillsides give way under sustained rainfall.

The country recorded one of its deadliest such episodes in late 2025, when landslides and flooding tied to Cyclone Ditwah killed dozens of people in the same tea-growing belt, prompting nationwide school and office closures at the time as well.

The recent disaster underscores how repeated bouts of extreme weather are straining Sri Lanka’s disaster response capacity within the same nine-month window.

Authorities have not said when schools in the affected districts will reopen, and officials say the decision will depend on how the weather develops over the coming days.