COLOMBO, March 24 -- "Aiyo, Miss, we faced huge problems because of alcohol in the camp. We couldn't even study peacefully. Illegal liquor was being produced right there among us. Family fights increased. It was women and students like me who suffered the most."

These are the words of a 17-year-old girl displaced by Cyclone Ditwah, which devastated large parts of Sri Lanka on November 27, 2025. She was among more than 300 people from 85 families sheltered in a school turned temporary camp in the Nuwara Eliya district. She spoke quietly, choosing her words carefully, as though still afraid of being overheard.

Her story is not exceptional. It is the norm.

Cyclone Ditwah was one of the most destructive natural disasters to hit Sri Lanka i...