When the floodwaters receded after the recent rains, Sri Lanka appeared to return swiftly to normalcy. 

Roads reopened, offices resumed work, and public attention shifted to the next headline, but in flood-affected neighbourhoods, life did not reset so easily. In the days that followed, many families were still clearing mud from their homes, drying salvaged belongings, and quietly calculating losses that no official report would fully capture. 

These observations are drawn from visits to affected communities and informal conversations held in damaged houses and temporary shelters. What emerged was a sobering reality: floods in Sri Lanka do far more than damage property. They weaken livelihoods, disrupt education, deepen inequality, and gradually erode hope.

A deep social cost

For many families, the floods were not a surprise. Residents spoke of recognising familiar warning signs: the rising smell of the river, drains filling too fast, messages from relatives living upstream. 

Years of experience have taught them how to prepare: lifting furniture, packing clothes, and planning evacuation routes. But preparation only limits damage; it does not prevent loss. 

Several residents in the central and south-central districts explained that this was their second or third flood in recent years. Each time, recovery becomes more difficult. Houses are repaired just enough to be habitable, not improved. Plans to rebuild properly are postponed again and again. 

Over time, floods reshape how people think about the future. Instead of planning ahead, families live cautiously, always anticipating the next disaster. This quiet, repeated adjustment carries a deep social cost that remains largely unacknowledged.

Economic consequences

The economic impact is immediate and severe, particularly for those who depend on daily wages. 

Once floodwaters enter a neighbourhood, work stops overnight. Masons, drivers, helpers, vendors, and small traders lose income instantly. Unlike salaried workers, they have no paid leave or financial buffers. Demand falls as households redirect spending from daily consumption to repairs and basic survival, while damaged roads, displacement, and uncertainty keep customers away even after the water recedes. 

Many residents explained that although the flooding lasted only a few days, income losses extended for weeks. More damaging still are losses that never appear in official damage assessments: tools, machinery, stock, and raw materials. A tailor without a sewing machine, a carpenter without tools, or a food vendor without supplies cannot resume work. 

These seemingly ‘small’ losses often force families to borrow, sell possessions, or abandon livelihoods altogether, quietly weakening local economies long after the floods fade from public attention.

Impact on education

Education suffers in similarly silent but lasting ways. 

Children miss school not only because buildings close, but because uniforms, books, and bags are destroyed. For some parents, replacing these items is not immediately possible. Children fall behind, feel embarrassed, and lose motivation. For older students, the impact is even more distressing. Lost notebooks, textbooks, and revision materials leave them anxious about upcoming exams. 

“How can my child sit for the exam without notes?” one parent asked, visibly worried. This anxiety is widespread. Even a single examination without adequate preparation can leave lasting psychological scars. 

Education loss during floods is rarely dramatic, but it is cumulative. Missed lessons become learning gaps, learning gaps reduce performance, and reduced performance narrows future opportunities. In this way, floods quietly erode Sri Lanka’s human capital, one child at a time.

The statistics are troubling. Surveys conducted over the past two years indicate that nearly 40% of schoolchildren in flood-affected areas have fallen behind in core subjects, while remedial programmes have reached only a fraction of those in need. 

UNICEF estimates that more than 275,000 children are among the 1.4 million people affected, with Cyclone Ditwah alone pushing children across the country into an escalating humanitarian and learning crisis after making landfall on the eastern coast. 

Affected students have also recorded a 25% increase in exam-related anxiety, particularly where learning materials were lost or delayed. For families already under financial strain, replacing these essentials is neither quick nor affordable, deepening educational inequalities.

The economic consequences extend beyond households and classrooms. Assessments by the World Bank and local authorities suggest that repeated flood-related disruptions to education and livelihoods reduce local Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth by an estimated 0.3–0.5% annually, with losses compounding in years of recurrent disasters. 

These figures highlight a critical reality: education outcomes, household incomes, and national economic resilience are deeply interconnected. When classrooms are flooded, the damage reaches far beyond school walls.

Strain on families and communities

Floods also place heavy, often invisible pressure on families, particularly on women. In many households, women shoulder the main responsibility for cleaning, caregiving, managing relief assistance, and restoring daily routines. 

Women-headed households face even greater strain, with no second income or support to share the burden. This unpaid labour is essential to recovery, yet it remains unrecognised. At the same time, men who lose income spoke of stress and frustration at being unable to provide as before. 

These shifts quietly alter family roles and relationships, adding emotional strain to already fragile situations. Floods, in this sense, do not only damage physical spaces; they disrupt the social balance within homes.

Perhaps the most unsettling insight from these conversations is how unequal recovery can be, even when relief appears equal. Two neighbouring families may receive the same assistance, yet recover at very different speeds depending on savings, education, social networks, and job security. 

Over time, floods deepen existing inequalities. Those who were already vulnerable fall further behind, while those with resources recover faster. 

As floods become more frequent, many communities begin to accept them as a normal part of life. This normalisation is dangerous. When repeated disasters are treated as routine, expectations shrink, long-term investments decline, and survival replaces progress.

A substantial fiscal burden

From a macroeconomic perspective, floods represent a negative supply shock affecting output, employment, and fiscal stability. 

Recurrent flooding disrupts agricultural production, damages Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and interrupts services, collectively suppressing GDP growth. Reduced output and business closures weaken household incomes and private consumption, placing downward pressure on aggregate demand. 

The fiscal burden is substantial. Unplanned spending on infrastructure rehabilitation, temporary housing, and emergency relief diverts resources from long-term development priorities. 

According to the Ministry of Finance, the Treasury has already disbursed more than Rs. 13 billion for flood-related relief. While necessary, such spending widens budget deficits, increases borrowing needs, and further constrains fiscal space.

Floods also intensify inflationary pressures and strain external balances. Disruptions to food supply chains fuel price volatility, hitting low-income households hardest. Meanwhile, increased imports of food, construction materials, and fuel for recovery place additional pressure on the trade balance. 

Beyond these immediate effects lie long-term structural costs. Learning losses, reduced labour productivity, and delayed private investment weaken human capital formation and lower potential growth. These indirect and often unquantified losses persist long after floodwaters recede.

Addressing the challenges

The water leaves quickly, but the damage to Sri Lanka’s social fabric and economic strength lingers. Children’s fear of exams without notebooks, the slow erosion of livelihoods, income insecurity, and invisible social costs combine to delay recovery and deepen vulnerability. 

Addressing these challenges requires more than short-term relief. It demands strategic investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, disaster risk financing, targeted educational support, and stronger social protection systems. 

Without such action, floods will continue to quietly undermine development, leaving families struggling not just to recover, but to hold on to the future they have worked so hard to build.

(The writer is an independent researcher)

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication)