Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words Sri Lanka is experiencing one of the most devastating
climate disasters in its modern history. Cyclone Ditwah unleashed torrential rainfall that triggered widespread flooding and landslides. Entire neighbourhoods were submerged or wiped away, critical infrastructure collapsed, and over two million people have been forced into temporary shelters. More than 600 have been reported dead.
The sad reality is that, though this weather event is extreme, it may not be rare. Extreme weather is rapidly becoming a defining feature of daily life worldwide.
What Cyclone Ditwah exposes is a fundamental mismatch between
today’s climate reality and the way our societies are designed. For decades, governments treated extreme weather as exceptional – something to prepare for, but not something that prompts us to rethink the design of cities and systems. Many countries, particularly across Asia, now face a deep “adaptation deficit”: infrastructure, housing and urban planning built for a stable and predictable climate that no longer exists.
This moment demands more than emergency aid or stronger building codes. It requires re-examining the core assumptions that underpin modern life.
The first is the idea of a permanent home. If entire towns can disappear overnight, so should the concept of permanence. Climate-driven displacement is already occurring across Asia, and place-based location choices and in situ housing may need rethinking to accommodate resilient, relocatable, modular or deliberately mobile solutions.
