FAO.org

Sri Lanka has launched several national initiatives to establish a centralized tsunami early-warning system. There is a need to establish community-based early-warning systems that can receive information from the National Early Warning Centre and disseminate it to local people. 

One community-based system is the Community Tsunami Early Warning Centre (CTEC) at Peraliya, a community on Sri Lanka’s southwest coast that was devastated by the December 2004 tsunami. In Peraliya, the tsunami toppled a train, killing more than 2 000 people, many of them villagers. The CTEC covers five villages directly through its public address system, and has extended its services to the entire Galle District through its Community Focal Point (CFP) network. 

The CTEC conducts community-awareness and educational programmes to provide the public with knowledge and skills on emergency preparedness. It has established volunteer teams through its CFP network, and the volunteers have been trained on the actions to take in an emergency and learned skills, such as basic life support, first aid and fire preparedness. Evacuation areas have been identified and tsunami signs have been established as part of the community contingency plan. 

The CTEC’s information and communication technology facilities, which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are linked to national and international warning agencies and media. Young people from Peraliya continuously monitor the system for emergency information and warnings. Institutional operational procedures have been developed that are to be followed in an emergency.

The CTEC is fully managed by a volunteer force in the local community of Peraliya, with support from interested stakeholders.

Source: FAO (2013)