Five flights bound for Sri Lanka were diverted to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on Friday due to bad weather over Colombo, the airport authorities said.

“Two were Srilankan Airline flights, one each from Dubai and Doha, one was an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi and one an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur,” the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) said.

“The fifth was an Indigo flight from Mumbai to Colombo,” it added.

The Etihad Airways aircraft landed at 3.44 am, the AirAsia flight at 4.37 am, and the Srilankan Airlines flights at 7.44 am and 7.55 am, TIAL said. “The Indigo flight landed here at 9.49 am,” it added.

“The flights which landed at the Thiruvananthapuram airport in the morning are still here due to the bad weather conditions in Colombo,” a TIAL official said.

The diversions come as Sri Lanka reels under floods and landslides that have killed 56 people, with 21 reported missing, authorities said. At least 46 deaths occurred in the past 72 hours.

In view of the emergency situation, the government declared Friday a public holiday, except for essential services, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.

“43,991 people from 12,313 families have been affected by the extreme weather conditions,” disaster management officials said.

Cyclonic storm Ditwah is currently near Sri Lanka’s eastern district of Trincomalee. “Ditwah was centred about 50 km south of Trincomalee and was seen to be moving north and northwestwards,” the meteorology department said.

“Heavy showers, thunderstorms and strong winds will continue island-wide, with very heavy rainfall above 200 mm expected in several provinces, and up to 150 mm in areas including Trincomalee, Badulla, Galle and Matara,” the weather bureau added.

“Winds of 60-70 kmph, gusting up to 80-90 kmph, are likely across much of the country,” it said.

SriLankan Airlines said, “Several inbound planes had been diverted to Kochi and Trivandrum in India and the Mattala airport in the southern province.”

The government is considering an international appeal for help, sources said.

All railway services have been suspended from 6 am today. “In Gampola, the railway station was completely submerged with several carriages trapped underwater,” officials said.

The risk of floods has increased due to the opening of spill gates at all reservoirs across the island.