CYCLONE APPEAL HOME PAGE

Appeal Email, first dispatched 3rd Dec 25:

To all friends and acquaintances of Anthony, Sam, Amila and the team here at RANGALA HOUSE, SRI LANKA

We are all OK and the house is undamaged. But there is devastation all around…

The recent cyclone which hit Sri Lanka was truly awful. It carried a vast amount of water with it and was very slow moving. It centred over the island for 4 or 5 days before finally moving northwards. The result was unprecedented rainfall, thundering down non-stop day and night. Quite scary. The estate streams grew into mighty orange torrents cascading down onto roads and villages bringing boulders, mudslides and destruction. Down in the valleys, there has been extensive flooding – whole villages going under, loss of life, loss of homes, loss of livelihoods.

Only 300M from RH up towards Duckwari, a major landslide blocked the whole road. A similar short distance down the hill, many tons of hillside came down and somehow went under the road surface (subsidence?) buckling and twisting the tarmac upwards by as much as 10 feet – it looked more like an earthquake. The debris, electricity posts and everything else piled up against our neighbour’s house… which is still standing but will have to be demolished. These were just two of the incidents within walking distance. There are thousands of such stories across Central Province alone.

Rangala House was entirely cut off for several days. No road access from any direction – even the estate tracks were blocked by landslides and fallen trees. No electricity, telephone, internet, mobile phones all down, watermain, etc. However, we have a generator and our own deep well. We had gas for cooking – everything ok. But we were the lucky ones. By the fourth day, it was so sad to see bedraggled refugees from upcountry (Knuckles Forest area) walking by on the road, picking their way through the mud and debris, seeking help. The Sri Lankans are very good at helping each other and much has already been done to offer shelter and food.

It’s now about a week since it started. Lovely sunshine today, everything drying out, the mountain view beautiful as ever. But, in the distance, down in the valleys, the steady, ominous roar of white water as the streams and rivers are still hugely in flood.

Still no power and no internet. The latter is a major problem! I’m trying to do simple bank transactions to free up cash for our appeal (see below). But we only have a weak, intermittent 4G signal on the mobiles, providing a dysfunctional ‘mobile hotspot’ internet – it’s been driving me crackers! I also want to send this email out to multiple contacts and that’s not possible either. Please be understanding if you have tried to get in touch by phone, email or WhatsApp. All are intermittent at best!

RH Emergency Appeal

We have already started on relief work. An excellent group of young chaps whom we know well have set up a hot food centre in the village hall just down the road. Some are Sam’s cricketing boys, some are local trekking guides headed up by Nirashana (our excellent RH trekking chief). They are knocking out hundreds of rice packets per day and delivering them to remote areas upcountry – Rangala Town, Tangappu, Galabadawatta etc. The first time they went (2 days ago) it was a 20KM walk. Now tuktuk access is better so delivery is swifter. Our first job at RH is to raise the funds to support this initiative. Tomorrow, they will also start delivering “survival packs” of dried foods, rice, dhal, canned foods, sanitary towels, medication, etc. Probable cost about Rs12000/- each (about $40). We expect that hundreds of these will be needed over the coming weeks…

All this is being done under the supervision of the local Grama Sevaka (Village head) who already has detailed info about the homes that are at risk. This is all reminiscent of the ‘Food Bank’ initiative that we set up following the financial crash in 2022 when supplies failed and ordinary villagers were facing starvation. This time around, the scale of the problem is much greater and it is the outlying villages we must try to get to. We will need to keep these deliveries going for weeks – maybe months.

We also want to help with funding for individuals/families who have lost their homes and/or livelihoods and have to start again. For example, our gardener/table steward Ruwan (he has been with Rangala House for nearly 20 years) has lost his house. It is still standing, but it’s on a steep hillside and there has been a landslide right in front of it, making it unsafe for him, his wife and baby. (The debris went down onto his neighbour’s house below, so there’s another crisis there.) Just to find a temporary place to rent will cost around Rs 20K per month ($65). So that’s around $400 for 6 months. Much more is needed to find/build him a house of his own. Many more stories like this are emerging each day.

Island-wide, it is a very daunting picture. Major flooding in Colombo and many towns, thousands of acres of paddy / other crops wiped out, food shortages / price hikes already starting, talk of fuel shortages (major distribution depot under water), and so on. The high highlands – Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Haputale still completely cut off except by helicopter. Many railway lines damaged or gone.

We will centre our efforts on the immediate area and will try to help those who don’t stand a chance of getting any government support. (The president, by the way, seems to be scoring high marks for his realistic and practical addresses on TV. The army & air force were mobilised early on, state of emergency declared, action seen to be being taken.)