"Cyclone Ditwah wreked havoc across Sri Lanka's capital city of Colombo, with relentless downpours and strong winds flooding homes, submerging roads, swallowing fields and unleashing landslides across the island. Footage filmed in affected districts on Friday shows roads under water, houses half-submerged, and uprooted trees blocking roads. Dozens of displaced families were moved to temporary shelters, where they received emergency food and water supplies. Sri Lanka has been battling severe weather since last week, but conditions sharply deteriorated on Friday, pushing the death toll to 56 while dozens remain missing. Ditwah is now moving north and north-west toward Tamil Nadu, carrying wind speeds of around 65 km/h. The island has been hit by unprecedented rainfall, with the Meteorology Department reporting that 20 of Sri Lanka's 25 districts are severely affected. More than 60,000 families are now directly impacted, prompting authorities to issue an island-wide red alert. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said fatalities increased after rescuers recovered more bodies in the heavily affected central region, where several victims were buried alive in mudslides earlier this week. Rainfall reportedly reached 360 millimetres in 24 hours in some areas. With conditions worsening, the government ordered the closure of all schools and government offices on Friday. Overflowing reservoirs and rivers have cut off major routes, forcing authorities to halt passenger trains, shut highways, and close multiple roads due to fallen rocks, mud and trees. Railway tracks in several regions are completely flooded. The weather department warned that Cyclone Ditwah could intensify further over the next 12 hours as it moves across the island. Nationwide, the DMC confirmed that 43,991 people have been evacuated to schools and public shelters."