Historical Disaster Information System in Sri Lanka www.desiventar.lk Preliminary Analysis Released on the Occasion of the Launch of the Historical Disaster Information System June 2007 Disaster Management Centre Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights In Partnership with United Nations Development Programme, Sri Lanka United Nations Development Programme, Regional Centre, Bangkok Project Team Composition Major General Gamini Hettiarachchi, Director General, DMC Mr. U.W.L. Chandradasa, Director, Technology and Mitigation, DMC Dr. Ananda Mallawatantri, Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP Mrs. Geethi Karunaratne, Chief Technical Advisor, UNDP Ms. Anita Shah, Disaster Risk Management Specialist, UNDP Mr. Sisira Kumara, Program Coordinator, Disaster Risk Management Program, UNDP Mr. Rajesh Sharma, Regional Information Systems Specialist, UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok Mr. Julio Serje, Consultant, UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok Mr. Dinesh Rajapaksa, Disaster Inventory System Offi cer, UNDP Introductory Note The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) within the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights (M/DM&HR) with technical and fi nancial support from the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Program of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok has initiated the development of a historical disaster inventory system for Sri Lanka. In establishing the system, information of past disaster events has been collected for the period 1974 – 2007. The two sources of data include the media and Government reports. Data was collected from two newspapers, the Daily News and Dinamina in the initial stage and the fi rst round of data collection from media sources was completed in September 2005. The information was collected on disaster impacts at the Divisional level. The fi rst stakeholder consultation and software training workshop was held in October 2006. The workshop was held to enable the sharing of progress on the development of the database, fi ndings of the preliminary analysis on disaster trends and impacts, and fi nally to agree on the strategy for institutionalization of the system in the Island. The feedback received from the participants at the stakeholder workshop resulted in the second phase of data collection and validation, which began in December 2006 at national level and at sub national levels. Given the limitations of relying solely on media sources for the collection of historical data, it was felt that the existing data (collected from media sources) had to be cross checked and validated with reports from Government sources. The following agencies were involved in the national level data validation and additional data collection process which was completed in April 2007: • Epidemiological Unit of the Ministry of Health • Department of Meteorology • Department of Social Services • Department of Irrigation • Department of Wildlife Conservation • Department of Fire Services of the Colombo Municipal Council • National Building Research Organization In the mean time, validation of existing data and collection of additional data commenced in nine Districts (Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Puttalam, Rathnapura, Matara, Galle, Hambantota and Kandy) with the assistance of District and Divisional offi cials. The process was completed in May 2007. This report represents the overall country wide preliminary analysis of the historical disaster impact data collected. The results may show some inconsistencies owing to the limitations outlined in Section 3 of the report, and hence the conclusions and fi ndings should be viewed as purely preliminary and a representation of the nature of the analyses that can be carried out using the disaster inventory system. The district specifi c data analyses with respect to the above nine districts where the data validation process has been completed is being carried out at present and will be presented in due course. Analytical reports for the other Districts in the country will be produced in a phased manner as and when data validation in each district is complete. The country wide and district analytical reports will be updated periodically in the future, in order to ensure that the reports remain current and relevant and to enrich the quality of the analyses. The web based database can now be accessed at: www.desinventar.lk. There is also a link to the database on the DMC website: www.dmc.gov.lk. Acknowledgements The Sri Lanka Historical Disaster Information System has been initiated based on the DesInventar system developed by the Network for Social Studies on Disaster Prevention in Latin America (LA RED). LA RED is acknowledged with gratitude for the opportunity of adopting DesInventar in Sri Lanka. The DMC and UNDP Sri Lanka extend their gratitude to the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok for providing training to the staff of UNDP and the DMC on the use of DesInventar and for providing the guidance and fi nancial support required to implement the system in Sri Lanka. The support extended by Sanny Jegillos and Rajesh Sharma from the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok; and Julio Serge from LA RED is gratefully appreciated. Focal points from the following Line Departments are acknowledged for their assistance and fullest cooperation throughout the data collection exercise and for participating in the data validation process: • Epidemiological Unit of the Ministry of Health • Department of Social Services • Department of Irrigation • Department of Wildlife Conservation • Department of Fire Services of the Colombo Municipal Council • National Building Research Organization • Department of Meteorology • District Secretaries, Divisional Secretaries and Grama Niladharis from Colombo, Puttalam, Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Ratnapura, Baticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee • District Disaster Management Coordinators and UN Volunteers of the above Districts. Contents Page Introductory Note Acknowledgements 1. Background ...................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Historical Disaster Information System (Disaster Inventory Database – DesInventar) .................. 3 3. Preliminary Analysis Methodology ................................................................................................. 4 4. Composition Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 6 4.1. Disaster Typology (1974-2007) ........................................................................................... 6 4.2. Impact of Incidents on Human Life (1974-2007) ............................................................... 7 4.3. Impact on Housing: Damaged and Destroyed Housing (1974-2007) ................................. 8 4.4. Impact on Crops and Paddy (1974-2007) ........................................................................... 9 4.5. Relief Distribution (1974-2007) .......................................................................................... 10 5. Temporal Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 11 5.1. General trend: Number of Reports (1974-2007) ................................................................. 11 5.2. General trend: Number of Destroyed and Damaged Houses (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) ........................................................................................... 12 5.3. General Trend: Number of People and Families Affected (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) ........................................................................................... 12 5.4. General Trend: Damage to Paddy and Crops (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) ................... 12 6. Spatial Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 14 6.1. Distribution of Reports (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) ..................................................... 14 6.2. Number of People Affected (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) .............................................. 15 6.3. DS Divisions in Selected Districts where the Largest Number of People and Families have been Affected (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) .................................... 16 6.4. Distribution of Human Life Losses (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) .................................. 17 6.5. DS Divisions in Selected Districts where the Largest Number of Lives have been Lost (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) .................................................................. 18 6.6. Distribution of Destroyed Housing (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) ................................. 19 6.7. DS Divisions in Selected Districts where the Largest Number of Houses have been Damaged and Destroyed .................................................................................... 20 6.8. Distribution of Crop and Paddy Losses (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) ............................ 21 6.9. DS Divisions in Selected Districts which have suffered the Largest Crop and Paddy Losses (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) ............................................................. 22 6.10. Spatial Analysis Showing the Most Vulnerable Districts (All Hazard Types, 1974-2007) ........................................................................................... 23 7. Hazard Specifi c Analysis ................................................................................................................