COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The death toll from severe flooding and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwa in Sri Lanka has risen to 123, with 130 people still missing, authorities said Saturday.
About 44,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and are staying in temporary shelters, the South Asian country's disaster management center said.
The death toll is expected to rise. Social media posts on Saturday showed several areas hit by overnight landslides that authorities had not yet reached.
Sri Lanka has been battered by severe weather since last week and conditions worsened on Thursday, with heavy downpours flooding homes, fields and roads and causing landslides, mainly in the country's central hilly tea-growing regions.
The government closed schools and offices and postponed exams.
Most reservoirs and rivers overflowed their banks, blocking roads. Authorities stopped passenger trains and closed roads in many parts of the country after rocks, mud and trees fell on roads and train tracks.
By Friday, water flowing downstream from hard-hit areas had begun to inundate areas around the capital Colombo, which had received comparatively less rainfall.
Authorities say Dithwa, which originated in the seas east of Sri Lanka, is likely to move toward India's southern coast by Sunday. Rain is forecast for Sri Lanka on Saturday, with the storm expected to pass over the northern parts of the country.
