Sri Lanka has long lived with the reality of natural disasters. Floods, landslides, cyclones, and droughts regularly disrupt lives and the economy. The country’s biggest weakness is not the power of these events, it is the lack of imagination in how we prepare for them.
Too often, disaster management becomes a cycle of reacting, repairing, and returning to normal until the next crisis arrives. In a warming world, however, disasters are no longer rare disruptions. They are recurring patterns that we can predict and reduce if we plan smarter and think more creatively.
Cyclone Ditwah, which struck the country recently, made this clearer than ever. The storm itself was not extraordinary. What stood out were the gaps it exposed: shortfalls in planning, slow communication, and limited decision-making at the local level.
At the same time, Ditwah revealed something powerful: the energy of communities, the enthusiasm of young people, and the possibilities offered by modern technology. These strengths are waiting to be tapped.
This leaves Sri Lanka with one urgent question: can we rethink our approach to disasters and build resilience before the next cyclone arrives?
From surviving to designing
Many disaster plans in Sri Lanka still treat storms as brief interruptions – events to endure and recover from rather than opportunities to improve and innovate. But the country could benefit from shifting this mindset, moving from simply ‘surviving storms’ to actively ‘designing for storms.’
Nations like Japan and Switzerland manage seismic risks and avalanches through long-term vision, careful planning, and constant testing of new ideas. In such systems, disaster management goes beyond responding to damage and focuses on predicting risks, experimenting with solutions, and encouraging creative thinking.
Cyclone Ditwah reminded us that imagination is just as vital as meteorological data, and that the countries best prepared for future climate threats will be those that blend scientific insight with forward-looking vision.
Villages as resilience laboratories
Sri Lanka’s rural communities hold a wealth of practical wisdom. For generations, farmers, fishers, and village elders have observed clouds, river movements, and animal behaviour to predict changing weather. But much of this valuable knowledge remains outside the country’s formal disaster management system.
Imagine if every village became a small ‘resilience lab’ – a space where traditional experience works hand in hand with modern technology. In these community hubs, young people could use drones to identify flood-risk zones, schools could test climate-smart crops, and local radio stations could share precise, neighbourhood-level alerts.
Elders could teach traditional weather signs, linking ancient observations with modern forecasting tools. Simple evacuation drills run by trained villagers would make preparedness real and easy to practice. Unlike large-scale Government programmes, these resilience labs would depend on curiosity, community spirit, and teamwork, strengths that Sri Lanka already has in abundance.
A climate passport for every citizen
Technology can give citizens new levels of control and safety. One idea is a ‘climate passport’ for every Sri Lankan – a simple mobile app designed not for travel but for personal protection. The app could show the risk level of your area, map the nearest evacuation points, offer customised emergency checklists, and help families stay connected during a crisis.
Preparedness could even be made engaging: students could earn points for completing resilience lessons, families could update their emergency plans each year, and communities could compare preparedness scores to encourage collective action.
This approach shifts safety from fear to empowerment, making readiness a shared habit. In a country where every minute matters during floods or cyclones, such tools could help save lives and reduce damage.
Culture as a communication channel
Sri Lanka’s official warning systems often struggle to reach every household in time. But the nation has an underused advantage: culture.
Temples, mosques, churches, traditional songs, and local festivals are trusted communication channels that move faster than official messages. Imagine using these networks to complement modern alerts: drumbeats signalling imminent floods, mosque announcements with scripted evacuation messages, church bells ringing to mark emergency readiness, or school bands trained to play recognisable safety melodies.
Around the world, cultural alert systems have saved lives, from church bells warning of wildfires in Europe to drum messages communicating danger in parts of Africa. By leveraging its cultural heritage, Sri Lanka can amplify trust, speed, and reach in disaster communication.
Resilience as a national identity
In the world’s most disaster-ready countries, resilience isn’t just a programme, it’s a way of life. Children practise drills alongside school lessons, communities share responsibilities, and families follow routines instinctively.
Sri Lanka could do the same: introduce annual national resilience weeks in schools, hold monthly workplace drills, showcase citizen-led resilience on TV, and include environmental stewardship in religious teachings. When resilience becomes part of daily life, communities act before disasters hit, making preparedness second nature and turning survival into strength.
The ministry of the future
Sri Lanka’s current governance often focuses on short-term needs – the next budget, the upcoming monsoon, or the latest crisis. But climate change works on long timelines with big impacts. A small, forward-looking body – a ‘ministry of the future’ – could fill this gap.
Rather than day-to-day administration, it would plan for decades ahead: testing policies against future climate scenarios, simulating storms, assessing risks to agriculture, health, and infrastructure, and guiding investments for both people and the planet. With this approach, Sri Lanka wouldn’t just react to disasters; it would stay ahead of them.
Nature as strategy
Concrete walls and levees can break, but nature lasts. Mangroves, wetlands, and native plants act as living shields, cutting flood and wind damage while supporting biodiversity.
A national green buffer network could rebuild natural barriers along coasts, rivers, and other vulnerable areas, with communities, students, and environmental groups taking part. Nature becomes more than scenery; it is infrastructure. Protecting and restoring it is an affordable, long-term way to save lives, support livelihoods, and strengthen ecosystems.
Resilience as economic opportunity
Disaster preparedness is often seen as an expense, but it can also drive development. Teaching youth resilience skills creates jobs; climate-resilient farming secures food supplies;
micro-insurance protects small businesses from financial shocks.
Data-driven early warning systems prevent losses, while climate-smart tourism and innovation hubs can attract global investment. Framing resilience as an engine of economic growth changes the narrative: disasters are not just risks to manage; they are opportunities to innovate, train, and grow.
Ditwah’s message: Change or repeat
Cyclone Ditwah was more than just a storm; it was a warning. Climate change is accelerating faster than policies can keep up. Communities are ready to act, but systems must empower them. Technology alone is not enough without a culture of preparedness.
True resilience requires imagination as much as engineering. Sri Lanka cannot keep rebuilding the same vulnerabilities after each disaster. Every storm risks repeating the same losses. But if imagination, participation, and innovation guide policymaking, the country can completely transform how it approaches disasters.
Building a future-ready Sri Lanka
To prepare for the storms ahead, Sri Lanka must rethink disaster management at every level.
- Turn villages into laboratories of resilience: communities can experiment, learn, and innovate together.
- Turn culture into a communication channel: traditions, media, and religious teachings can spread awareness and preparedness.
- Turn schools into hubs for training: children can learn resilience skills as part of everyday education.
- Turn nature into protective infrastructure: mangroves, wetlands, and forests shield communities while supporting livelihoods.
- Turn resilience into a national identity: make preparedness and proactive action a shared pride.
- Turn policymaking into a future-focused strategy: plan decades ahead, anticipate risks, and invest in long-term solutions.
Sri Lanka has the creativity, talent, and community spirit to transform disaster management. The climate is changing, storms will come, and the challenge is clear: can the nation act faster than the next disaster?
(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)