For villages on the northern edge of Sri Lanka's capital, floods are a familiar ordeal -- but even the hardiest residents were stunned when the Kelani river surged this week.

Heavy showers upstream inundated the banks of the Kelani on Friday night, and the situation deteriorated rapidly the next day even though Cyclone Ditwah -- which brought the rains -- had already moved on.

Most residents along the banks of the major waterway in Kolonnawa ignored repeated flood warnings, thinking it wouldn't be as bad as authorities were predicting.

Climate change has increased the intensity of storms, and produced more heavy rain events because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture.

Delivery driver Dinusha Sanjaya said he brushed aside the warnings, assuming the worst would be a few feet of water

See Full Page