In Sri Lanka, tabletop exercises were carried out in 14 districts involving over 750 stakeholders. In total, almost 6,000 people participated in the tsunami exercise, which had an inclusive character, involving disabled people in the communities.
Various key points were identified during debriefing and evaluation meetings, that will facilitate a better preparedness for an actual tsunami. In particular, it was noticed that evacuation messages were not properly disseminated to a selected group of divisions in some locations and some early-warning towers did not function properly. In addition, many community members are not informed about the “Emergency Evacuation Kit”, also called the Tsunami “malla”, underlining the need for enhanced tsunami awareness.
A full list of outcomes is provided by the Sri Lankan Preparedness Division of the Disaster Management Center and can be downloaded here (PDF).
