PurposeThe authors investigate the role of community engagement in the connection between disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness. Using a vulnerability-to-hazard framework built by the European Union, the authors study the case of Aceh province, Indonesia, which was hit hard by Asian tsunami in 2004.Design/methodology/approachThe research design uses a single case study research. The authors study the case of Aceh province, Indonesia, by comparing improvements in disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness in a period longer than ten years beginning in 2004, right before the Asian tsunami that devastated the province. Aware that the connection between mitigation and preparedness is a broad research topic, the authors focus on the domain of pre-disaster evacuation.FindingsThe authors find that Aceh province has made substantial improvements in healthcare facilities and road quality (mitigation) as well as early alert systems and evacuation plans (preparedness). Socio-economic indicators of the community have improved substantially as well. However, there is a lack of safe sheltering areas as well as poor road signaling maintenance, which threatens the effectiveness of infrastructural improvements. The authors propose that community engagement would connect disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness. The connecting element is community-based maintenance of critical infrastructure such as road signals, which the government could facilitate by leveraging on operational transparency.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings open avenues for future research on the actionable engagement of communities in disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to three areas of humanitarian logistics research: disaster management cycle (DMC), pre-disaster evacuations and community engagement in disaster management.