Indian Ocean Tsunami Sri Lanka

The Indian Ocean Tsunami (IOT) in 2004 was a unique multi-national disaster, devastating 14 countries and highlighting severe vulnerabilities in the affected communities. This disaster was a catalyst in bringing forth a strong motivation to use post-disaster reconstruction and recovery to not only restore communities, but address vulnerabilities and build back better than before.

Sri Lanka was the second most affected country by the IOT following Indonesia. Thirteen districts along the Eastern and Southern coast of the country were impacted, with 35,322 lives lost and 516,150 people displaced. The Sri Lankan Government went in to the reconstruction and recovery process with a philosophy of “Building Back Better” guiding their recovery strategy.

We chose Sri Lanka as an interesting case study to evaluate the BBB decisions made for reconstruction and recovery and examine their long-term impacts seven years following the disaster. The experiences in Sri Lanka helped us to determine universally applicable BBB best-practice indicators.

Publications

Mannakkara, S. & Wilkinson, S. 2013. Build Back Better: Lessons from Sri Lanka’s recovery from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. International Journal of Architectural Research, 7 (3), 108-121.

Mannakkara, S. & Wilkinson, S. 2013. Build Back Better Principles for Post-Disaster Structural Improvements. Structural Survey, 31 (4), 314-327.

Mannakkara, S. & Wilkinson, S. 2012. Build Back Better Principles for Land-use Planning. Urban Design and Planning, 166 (5), 288-295.

Mannakkara, S. & Wilkinson, S. 2012d. Building Back Better in Japan – Lessons from the Indian Ocean Tsunami Experience in Sri Lanka. International Conference on Disaster Management. Kumamoto, Japan: IIIRR.

Mannakkara, S. (2014). A Framework for Building Back Better During Post-Disaster Reconstruction and Recovery. Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (Disaster Management), University of Auckland.