Rebuilding housing post-Ditwah: Lessons from Sri Lanka’s tsunami experience

The Ditwah Cyclone ranks second only to the December 2004 Tsunami in terms of damage to housing in Sri Lanka’s recent history. According to the government’s Disaster Management Centre, as of 9th December 2025, 86,488 houses were partially or fully damaged due to Ditwah. This is only slightly fewer than the nearly 100,000 houses affected by the 2004 Tsunami. The government has announced a redevelopment programme to assist affected families in rebuilding their homes in safer locations. It has many similarities to the 2005 post-Tsunami housing programme and holds important insights as outlined in the Post-Disaster Housing: Lessons Learnt from…

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