Srilanka, Dec. 7 -- There is no correct post-mortem of a natural disaster. People would inevitably have different opinions on what happened in the aftermath, and what happened immediately before the tragedy that befell Sri Lanka last week. Asia is reeling. At the time of writing, the collective death toll from the floods in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka was over 1,100.

By the time this article appears, people would have, in the best way they can, tried to resume their daily routines after the torrential downpour that came with cyclone Ditwah. But the issues stemming from the deluge will linger on for a long time to follow.

No Government is fully tested until it faces an unrelenting crisis. This is the first full-blown cris...