Building Damage and Business Continuity Management in the Event of Natural Hazards: Case Study of the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Abstract:The Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami event on the 26 December 2004 has provided a unique and valuable opportunity to evaluate the performance of various structures, facilities and lifeline systems during the tsunami wave attacks. There are especially meaningful observations concerning the structural changes due to the tsunami forces, which open up a wide area of research to develop the mitigation procedure. The business restoration process of business companies in terms of buildings, facilities and lifelines have shown greater research interest. In this study, we investigated the restoration process of business sectors in East and South coastal region in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. A field survey was conducted in East and South coast of Sri Lanka, in order to study the affecting parameters to damage assessment in the restoration process of the business companies. The results of the questionnaire-based field survey are then compared with the statistical analysis results. Finally, the factors affecting the restoration process after the tsunami are identified. As a main conclusion, financial support could be OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2013, 5 457 the most important reason for delays in restoration. Moreover, it has been observed that the tsunami inundation level of higher than one meter may have had more effect concerning the damage to the structures and requires additional time for restoration than other areas.

Satellite imaging reveals increased proportion of population exposed to floods

“…Populations have decreased in regions of flood exposure in the USA, such as New Orleans, USA, after Hurricane Katrina (see Figure 3A), consistent with other studies showing decreases in urbanization and population exposure in modeled FEMA flood zones in the coastal US 48,49 . In Sri Lanka, a decrease in the proportion of population exposed to floods is partially due to policy changes after the 2004 tsunami requiring residents to relocate at least 100 m from the shoreline, which displaced up to 500,000 people 50,51 .…”

Analysis of Multi-Temporal Shoreline Changes Due to a Harbor Using Remote Sensing Data and GIS Techniques

“…For example, Lanka et al [10] reported that the Batticaloa cyclone of 1978, considered one of the most disastrous cyclones to have hit Sri Lanka, resulted in widespread destruction in the study area as a result of the heavy rain and storm surges it caused. The Oluvil region was severely impacted by the 2004 tsunami, which was another catastrophic disaster to strike the area [11][12][13]. Additionally, the area is susceptible to storm surges resulting from frequent depressions within the Bay of Bengal [14].…”