Post-December 2004 Tsunami Reconstruction in Sri Lanka and Its Potential Impacts on Future Vulnerability

Abstract

The 26 December 2004 tsunami displaced more than 500,000 people and killed an estimated 31,000 in Sri Lanka. Damage was not uniform, often reflecting distinct patterns of social, infrastructural, and ecological vulnerability. Severely affected populations tended to be poorer, to live in fragile structures, and to be more exposed to the tsunami as a result of prior environmental degradation in the coastal zone. The massive reconstruction effort may further decrease the resilience of rural communities by degrading the natural environment that sustains their livelihoods. A sustainable reconstruction approach must therefore consider long-term solutions that increase community resilience by fostering socioeconomic, infrastructural, and environmental progress. A reconnaissance team monitored the initial recovery stages and identified mechanisms in supporting research on reducing the long-term vulnerability of human settlements and ecosystems to future environmental hazards. DOI: 10.1193/1.220492

Estimating environmental benefits of natural hazard mitigation with data transfer: results from a benefit-cost analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grants

“…Note that we focus primarily on studies in the U.S. because benefit transfer methods require adapting results from as close an analogous situation as possible, i.e., the best data for estimating the damages for one region of the U.S. would be from another region in the U.S. We acknowledge a growing amount of valuable research being done worldwide on environmental damage from hazards (see, e.g., Balluz et al 2001;Gotoh et al 2002;Khazai et al 2006;Lin et al 2006;Lin et al 2008). There is also a growing literature in the U.S. on the topic, much of which post-dates our study (see, e.g., Walsh et al 2006;Reible 2007).…”

Strategic Disaster Risk Management in Asia

“…(Athukorala and Resosudarmo 2005;Alexander et al 2006;Jayasuriya and McCawley 2008;Fernando 2010;Mulligan and Nadarajah 2011;Kang 2013). Issues of different types of vulnerability have attracted many studies (Dall'Osso and Dominey-Howes 2010; Khazai et al 2006). Forced relocation for ecological restoration (Light and Higgs 1996;Higgs 2005;Clasen et al 2006;Chandrasekharan et al 2008;Régnier et al 2008;Ruwanpura 2009;Kang 2013), disruption of social relationship, the loss of social capital (Aldrich 2002;Munasinghe 2007), the efforts in building up fresh social capital, threat to livelihood due to improper relocation, cultural issues arising out of relocation into a different cultural scenario (Fard et al 2010) and ecological restoration as route to sustainable livelihood have been researched.…”

Post-Disaster Engineering

“…Latest selected publications up to 2012 and the state of art related to the study of latest Pakistan and Turkey earthquakes is presented here: Benouar (2003); Bozorgnia and Bertero (2004); Chopra et al (2011); Khan (1987); McGuire (1993); Godavitarne (2006); Greene (1987); Gulkan (2003); Khan (1986); Khazai (2006); Olsen et al (1995); Tierney et al (2005) In addition to the above publications, relevant individual references are discussed in the text. Latest selected publications up to 2012 and the state of art related to the study of latest Pakistan and Turkey earthquakes is presented here: Benouar (2003); Bozorgnia and Bertero (2004); Chopra et al (2011); Khan (1987); McGuire (1993); Godavitarne (2006); Greene (1987); Gulkan (2003); Khan (1986); Khazai (2006); Olsen et al (1995); Tierney et al (2005) In addition to the above publications, relevant individual references are discussed in the text.…”