(OSV News) ─ Churches and temples in Sri Lanka have been turned into emergency relief camps for thousands left stranded by Cyclone Ditwah, which brought heavy rains, flooding and landslides across the island nation.
The disaster, called the "most challenging" in the nation's history by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has so far killed 474 people, while over 350 are still missing, according to the situation report by Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Center issued on Dec. 3.
"We are sheltering some 175 Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians since the day after the deadly cyclone struck," said Father Denzil Priyankara, the parish priest at St. Francis Xavier Church, Gurugalla, in the Diocese of Ratnapura.
Cyclone Ditwah made landfall Nov. 28 before moving back over the Bay of Bengal, triggering some of the most severe flooding Sri Lanka has seen since the early 2000s, according to the United Nations.
The parish feast scheduled for Dec. 7 has been postponed to accommodate the displaced people, Father Priyankara told UCA News on Dec. 3.
Two relief camps were set up at the church premises and the Buddhist temple in Gurugalla, he added.
Gurugalla, in Kegalle district, is located 37 miles from Colombo and was badly hit by the floods. The town has a diverse population of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, and is predominantly Buddhist.
Father Priyankara said the floods have receded, and volunteer teams, along with locals, have begun cleaning their homes, which are filled with mud and dirty water.
Families were being provided with dry rations, but many had lost everything -- clothes, furniture and kitchen utensils.
"It's going to be a big challenge to help them begin life afresh," said the priest.
The Ratnapura Diocese comprises 24 parishes serving about 24,000 Catholics in a population of about 1.9 million, over 86% of them Buddhists. Almost everyone was affected by the natural disaster.
In the Diocese of Chilaw, some 50 miles from Colombo, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral is sheltering around 800 people.
Another 250 have taken refuge at St. Anthony's Church in Nainamadama, said its parish priest, Father Peter Boteju.
In the Archdiocese of Colombo, over 600 were accommodated in at least four different parish churches.
Father Dilex Shantha Fernando, director of the Central Hospital Badulla, organized a medical camp at Narangala Estate in the Badulla parish, 217 miles from Colombo, on Dec. 2, for those affected by the severe weather conditions.
"This mission of care will not end here; we will continue reaching out to our people during this challenging time as part of the church's healing ministry," said the priest.
Material aid, worth over 3 million rupees (approximately $10,000), has been collected by St. Theresa's Parish in Colombo for distribution among displaced families.
Seth Sarana of Caritas Colombo said its teams have distributed a million rupees in cash donations to support the first phase of relief work in the affected parishes.
Many Buddhist temples have also been turned into emergency shelters.
The Palawatta Sri Bodhirajaramaya Temple in Passara, Badulla, took in 150 families, said Tibetan Buddhist monk Venerable S. Amarajothi Thera.
"I was inside the temple when heavy rains began pouring and went house to house, waking up people and telling them to come to my temple for safety," he told the media.
Cyclone Ditwah has caused mass destruction across Southeast Asian countries, with the death toll reaching 1,300 across Indonesia as of Dec. 3.
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UCA News is an independent Catholic news service covering East, South and Southeast Asia. OSV News contributed to this report.
