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In Sri Lanka, Little Hope for Survivors After Deadly Landslides Rains in Sri Lanka Complicate Landslide Rescue Efforts as Hope Dwindles
(about 2 hours later)
ARANAYAKE, Sri Lanka — The roar was deafening, making D. P. Nimal Ratnasinghe think that a helicopter was trying to land near his tiny grocery shop at the foot of a mountain. ARANAYAKE, Sri Lanka — Defying forecasts, sheets of rain were still falling Thursday on a rubble-strewn mountainside in the tea-and-cinnamon district of Sri Lanka, two days after a landslide buried three hamlets and dozens of residents who never heard it coming.
“Then I realized rocks were falling from the mountain,” Mr. Ratnasinghe, 46, said on Thursday morning. As a team of elite army commandos rushed up the mountain in a seemingly hopeless search for survivors, Prema Adikari emitted a low wail as she and a small brown dog stared at the muddy remains of a collapsed house that once belonged to her brother and his family.
A devastating landslide on Tuesday afternoon blanketed three hamlets on the mountain here in the tea-and-cinnamon-growing region of central Sri Lanka. Mr. Ratnasinghe’s shop was flooded with mud and water, but he was one of the few lucky survivors. “The neighbors shouted for them to leave, but I don’t think they heard over the gushing waters of the canal nearby,” she said, sobbing. Her niece was only 15, she said, “fair and so pretty, barely even a woman yet.”
Officials said that at least 45 people were known to have been killed in landslides and flash flooding in the past few days in this island nation at the foot of India, where monsoon season has just begun. But the death toll was expected to rise substantially. Hundreds of thousands of people have also been displaced. Minutes later, with the rains increasing, the commandos scurried back down the rugged moonscape, just ahead of a new burst of mud and debris.
In the mountainous region of Aranayake, where Mr. Ratnasinghe’s shop is, more than 130 people were still missing and believed to have been killed, said Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe, who is in charge of the rescue operation. “At least I hope they will find their bodies,” Ms. Adikari said to a police officer nearby, “so we can have a proper funeral.”
Kegalle District, which includes Aranayake, was struck by two major landslides, said Pradeep Kodippili, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Center of Sri Lanka. Kegalle is about 75 miles east of the capital, Colombo. Officials said that at least 45 people were known to have died in the past few days amid landslides and flash flooding on this island nation at the foot of India, where monsoon season has just begun. But the death toll was expected to rise substantially. Hundreds of thousands of people have also been displaced.
Twenty-four bodies have been recovered so far in Kegalle, said General Ranasinghe. He had little hope for other villagers on the mountainside in Aranayake, who he said lived in 66 houses, three to a house. In the mountainous region around the small town of Aranayake, more than 130 people were still missing and believed dead, said Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe, who is in charge of the rescue operation.
The Kegalle district, which includes Aranayake, was struck by two major landslides, said Pradeep Kodippili, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Center of Sri Lanka. Kegalle is about 75 miles east of the capital, Colombo.
Twenty-four bodies have been recovered so far in Kegalle, General Ranasinghe said in an interview inside a makeshift operations center that his men and district officials had set up inside a school nearby. He had little hope for other villagers on the mountainside in Aranayake, where there were 66 houses.
“I have my doubts that there are any survivors left on the collapsed mountain slopes,” General Ranasinghe said.“I have my doubts that there are any survivors left on the collapsed mountain slopes,” General Ranasinghe said.
As heavy rain continued on Thursday morning, hundreds of military personnel resumed rescue operations shortly after dawn, climbing together, knee-deep in mud, up the slope of the mountain. To find their footing, and any signs of life, they prodded the muddy water with branches of trees and poles, as slippers, bags and other items belonging to the people who had lived there swirled around. Hundreds of military personnel swarmed the landslide area, shortly after dawn, climbing the mountainside in knee-deep mud. To find their footing, and any signs of life, they prodded the muddy water with tree branches and poles, as slippers, bags and other personal items swirled by in the small streams that ran through the rubble.
General Ranasinghe said that the rescue operations were continuing “to recover the bodies at least, to give the families some peace.” The rains made the rescue operation treacherous, and by midday Thursday the effort had been halted at least once. General Ranasinghe said that the rescue operations were continuing “to recover the bodies at least, to give the families some peace.” The rains made the rescue operation treacherous, and by midday on Thursday, the effort had been halted at least once.
Military personnel involved in the rescue operation said that two smaller landslides had occurred in the same area on Wednesday evening, sending rescuers scurrying down the mountain for safety. None were hurt, they said. A shopkeeper, D. P. Nimal Ratnasinghe, said the mountainside broke loose Tuesday night with a deafening roar that he likened to that of a helicopter landing.
At the foot of the mountain stood the remains of a big house whose roof had been crushed, exposing the contents, which included a battered washing machine and a shattered fish tank buried in mud. Only one thing appeared to be intact: a Buddhist shrine. Some survivors declared that to be a miracle. “Then I realized rocks were falling from the mountain,” Mr. Ratnasinghe, 46, said on Thursday morning. Mr. Ratnasinghe’s shop was flooded with mud and water, but he was one of the few lucky survivors in the immediate area.
P. G. Sekara, 52, a resident of one of the hillside villages, said the house belonged to his sister. She survived, he said, because she had heard the rumbling in time and had run to safety. At the foot of the mountain above Aranayake stood the remains of a big house, its crushed roof revealing the contents — a battered washing machine and a shattered fish tank buried in mud. Only one thing appeared to have survived intact: a Buddhist shrine. Some survivors declared it a miracle.
Behind the house, rescuers were digging in the mud, searching for three people who had last been seen in that area before the landslide. A paddy field and a canal that ran through the valley had disappeared under the mud, residents said. P. G. Sekara, 52, a resident of one of the hillside villages, said the house had belonged to his sister. She survived, he said, because she had heard the rumbling in time and had run to safety.
Behind the house, rescuers were digging in the mud, searching for three people who had last been seen in that area before the landslide. A rice paddy and the canal, which ran through the valley, had disappeared under the mud, residents said.
Mr. Sekara and other residents said they had lost hope that anyone else would be found alive. “There’s no point in them going back looking for survivors,” he said. “You’d have to look 40 feet under the mud to find people.”Mr. Sekara and other residents said they had lost hope that anyone else would be found alive. “There’s no point in them going back looking for survivors,” he said. “You’d have to look 40 feet under the mud to find people.”
President Maithripala Sirisena toured the area on Wednesday, saying the government’s priority was locating the missing and providing relief and shelter to the displaced. “The loss is devastating,” he wrote on Twitter after the visit. President Maithripala Sirisena toured the area on Wednesday, declaring in a Twitter post after the visit, “The loss is devastating.”
Red Cross officials said they had heard complaints from residents that the country’s disaster management agencies had failed to issue any alerts or evacuation warnings. More than 1,000 people, displaced by the slides or fearful of returning until the rains subside, were being housed at four temporary camps. At one of those, in the village of Hathgampola, where 113 families were sheltering, survivors told of narrow escapes as the mountain gave way.
Meteorologists had predicted a stronger-than-average monsoon season in Sri Lanka this year, the effects of a waning El Niño. Though the tropical island nation frequently experiences intense monsoons and flooding, this year’s devastation was unusually fierce for so early in the rainy season. Dingiri Mahattaya, 63, said that she, her daughter and her son ran for their lives once they realized what was happening. “Big rocks started to roll down the hill with a fierce sound,” she said. “Some of the rocks hit the walls and windows of the house. We opened the front door and ran through the rice paddy to safety.”
She said she did not know when they would be able to return. “They tell me that my house is now filled with water and mud, and the walls have collapsed.”
Meteorologists attributed the heavy rains to a waning El Niño, adding that, although the tropical island frequently experiences intense monsoons and flooding, this year’s devastation was unusually fierce for so early in the rainy season.
The Sri Lanka Department of Meteorology said that a deep low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal that had become a tropical depression by Wednesday had caused the rains, but that it was moving away from the island. But on Thursday morning, the heavy rains showed no signs of abating.The Sri Lanka Department of Meteorology said that a deep low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal that had become a tropical depression by Wednesday had caused the rains, but that it was moving away from the island. But on Thursday morning, the heavy rains showed no signs of abating.
With the rainfall, several small mudslides struck the Aranayake area on Wednesday and Thursday. While no lives were endangered, the rains made rescue operations increasingly perilous, General Ranasinghe said.
Some residents complained that they were not warned of a landslide risk by local disaster management officials. But General Ranasinghe said many villagers were warned to evacuate hours before the tragedy.
“The trouble is, this is a very prosperous mountain,” he said, pointing to the exposed slopes, “everything grows well here; people don’t want to leave.”