Floods and Landslides 2016 Sri Lanka Post-Disaster Needs Assessment

In the month of May 2016, parts of Sri Lanka were hit by the heaviest recorded rainfall in more than 18 years, which caused severe floods in 24 districts and also horrific landslides, one of which was the worst recorded in our country. The floods and landslides resulted in the loss of at least 93 lives and affected almost half a million people. The disaster damaged over 58,000 houses and caused a loss in income for over a million people dependent on agriculture, trade and industries.

The PDNA report covers nine sectors and four cross cutting themes and looks at the overall impact of the disaster. As a complement to the assessment of the effect and the impact of the floods and landslides this PDNA report also incorporates a recovery strategy. This strategy builds on the fact that Sri Lanka is prone to regular floods as well as on the uncertainty of global climate change and phenomena such as El Niño. The recovery strategy proposes a long-term plan to strengthen preparedness and to reduce the risks of further disasters and extreme weather events.