Sri Lanka shuts schools as floods and mudslides kill 7

Heavy rainfall in Sri Lanka's mountainous central region has triggered a series of deadly natural disasters, prompting nationwide school closures in affected areas. The torrential downpours unleashed mudslides and flash flooding that claimed at least seven lives and injured multiple individuals. According to the government's Disaster Management Centre, five deaths resulted from mudslides that buried residents in two houses within the central region, while two additional fatalities occurred in flood-related incidents.

The scale of property damage and displacement reflects the severity of the weather event. Authorities documented destruction of 129 houses and the forced evacuation of approximately 3,500 people from their homes. Military units, including navy and army personnel, were deployed to assist residents trapped by rising floodwaters, with rescue operations visible in submerged urban areas.

The affected region, encompassing districts such as Nuwara Eliya and Badulla, sits on steep terrain historically vulnerable to landslides during monsoon season when sustained rainfall saturates hillsides. This vulnerability has manifested repeatedly in recent years, most notably during Cyclone Ditwah in late 2025, which killed dozens in the same tea-growing belt and caused an estimated $4.1 billion in damage.

The current disaster underscores mounting strain on Sri Lanka's disaster response infrastructure, which faces repeated extreme weather events within compressed timeframes. Officials have not announced a timeline for school reopenings, indicating that decisions will depend on weather developments in the coming days.