Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Saturday and sought international assistance as the death toll from Cyclone Ditwah’s rains and floods climbed to 132, with 176 people still missing.The extreme weather system has destroyed more than 15,000 homes and forced 78,000 people into state-run temporary shelters, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said, as cited by AFP.President Anura Kumara Dissanayake invoked emergency laws, giving him broad authority to respond to the devastation after a week of torrential rain across the island.“We have 132 confirmed dead and another 176 missing,” DMC Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said. He also noted that relief operations have been reinforced with deployments from the army, navy and air force.Although the cyclone was moving north toward neighbouring India on Saturday, fresh landslides struck the central district of Kandy, 115 km (70 miles) east of Colombo, submerging several sections of the main access road.Meanwhile, flooding worsened in low-lying areas, prompting authorities to order evacuations for residents along the Kelani River, which flows from Colombo into the Indian Ocean.While rain eased across most of the country, including the capital, the northern regions continued to experience showers from the lingering effects of the cyclone.The government called for international assistance and urged Sri Lankans abroad to contribute cash donations to aid nearly half a million people affected by the disaster.India responded quickly, sending two planeloads of relief supplies, while an Indian warship already in Colombo on a goodwill visit donated its rations to support victims.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, expressed his condolences to the people of Sri Lanka, mourning the lives lost in the cyclone and reaffirming India’s support for its “closest maritime neighbour.” He highlighted that India had promptly sent relief supplies and critical Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) equipment as part of the operation.The cyclone is Sri Lanka’s deadliest natural disaster since 2017, when floods and landslides claimed over 200 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands.