The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami caused more than 220,000 casualties and over $10 billion worth of damage, with the extent of the latter attributed to a lack of knowledge about tsunamis, given their rarity in this area. Questionnaire surveys on tsunami awareness were carried out among 1,000 residents in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, respectively, since the coastlines of these countries were some of the most severely damaged regions of the Indian Ocean. The purpose was to assess and evaluate the capacity of communities to respond to natural disasters. Additionally, a comparative analysis was carried out to identify the regional differences in tsunami risk perceptions, based on which people adjust their behavior and judgment. Careful consideration was given to differences in sociocultural backgrounds throughout the study, especially when quantitatively analyzing results and interpreting the implications and overall trends revealed several differences among the three countries on the topics studied.

When a disaster occurs during a pandemic, it would be a case of concurrent crises (synonymous to cascading disasters or compounding disasters). The single-hazard approach to disaster response system is not suited for this scenario. As shown from the experiences of the Philippines, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, the conventional single-hazard approach needed to integrate new measures, including basic skills training on handling COVID-19 for disaster responders; additional stockpiles of face coverings, disinfectants, tents, and personal protective equipment (PPE); social distancing at evacuation centers; updating of standard operation procedures (SOPs) and guidelines for disaster response to adapt to the concurrent crises situations. Building on the reports presented by the member countries of Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), this paper highlights three evolving disaster response practices during the COVID-19 pandemic: (i) digitalization of some aspects of disaster response, including early warning, surveillance, and impact assessment; (ii) dispersed evacuation to enforce social distancing, including other measures such as testing, tracing, and isolating infected individuals; (iii) remote psychological first aid to disaster-impacted individuals who are already experiencing anxieties from the pandemic. Indicative outcomes of the evolving response practices are discussed, including whether these could serve as entry points to transition the disaster response system from a single-hazard approach towards a multihazard approach.

The 'Sentinel Asia' initiative was established by regional space agencies, to use Remote Sensing information and Web-GIS data-delivery technologies in support of disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region. Sentinel Asia is 'voluntary and best-efforts-basis initiatives' led by the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) to share the disaster information in the region using the 'Digital Asia' (Web-GIS) platform and to make the best use of earth observation satellites data for disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region. The system is to initially be an internet-based, node-distributed, information distribution backbone, eventually distributing relevant satellite and in-situ spatial information on multiple hazards in the Asia-Pacific region. The system will also be used by member countries of Sentinel Asia in the Asia-Pacific region to 'trigger' dedicated satellite-data acquisitions by regionally operated satellites through their participating and cooperating space agencies during major and minor disasters in their countries. Operations of Sentinel Asia are to be commenced in October 2006 through a dedicated web site.

At the time of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and the Super Typhoon Haiyan of 2013, the existing disaster risk management (DRM) institutions of impacted countries were inadequate, and unprepared to govern the recovery process from large-scale disasters. This prompted the respective governments to establish adhoc recovery agencies to mobilise resources and unify all recovery efforts. However, establishing an ad-hoc agency after a disaster is a challenging endeavour. It poses issues from setting up to ensure it has adequate power and the capacity to influence the recovery outcomes. Governance issues-such as the power to command government agencies and stakeholders, the capacity to blend and streamline bureaucratic processes, and produce an 'account' of how the recovery agency discharges its duties to all recovery stakeholders-can create bottlenecks and stall the whole aspects of the recovery efforts. If the recovery agency fails to address these challenges, the stalled process will exacerbate social and economic losses and will exponentially increase the overall recovery costs. This paper reviews these governance challenges from the experiences of two ad-hoc recovery agencies (i.e. Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi or BRR in Indonesia, and the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery or OPARR in the Philippines) in Southeast Asia using a contextual lens (i.e. social, cultural, economic, and political perspectives) to draw lessons on improving disaster recovery governance for large-scale disasters. Keywords IntroductionIn two large-scale disasters that impacted Southeast Asia, ad-hoc agencies were established to govern the recovery process. The Government of Indonesia, following the Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004), established the Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi (BRR), while the Government of the Philippines, following the super typhoon

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