Papers by Chameera Randil
A statistical method for pre-estimating impacts from a disaster: A case study of floods in Kaduwela, Sri Lanka
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Comparison of Damage Values Used in Different Flood Modelling Studies
2019 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon), 2019
Estimating the economic loss caused by a flood hazard plays a major role in decision making durin... more Estimating the economic loss caused by a flood hazard plays a major role in decision making during disaster risk reduction activities, and such studies have been carried over some major cities of the world. This paper compares the base economic values used for building and infrastructure, depth-damage curves used and the total economic loss caused by flood hazards in five such studies carried out in Colombo, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok and Ginosa. These original studies had the data on different formats which were adopted to this study by means of normalization. The building structural damage and the contents damage of residential, commercial and industrial building types were focused on, since the largest contributions to the direct damage arises from these categories and building types. The comparisons have shown the importance of having disaggregated building economic information for commercial and industrial buildings with similar damage curves for the same building category. Furthermore, the importance of choosing a conservative depth for flood studies is stressed. The maximum inundation depth for the studies vary from 1.8 m to 10.0 m; and the lower values may produce errors in quantifying economic losses for floods with higher return periods.
Gaps in the Evacuation of People with Special Needs During Coastal Disasters in Sri Lanka
Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, 2019
Coastal hazards taken place all over the world have ended up with major devastations such as loss... more Coastal hazards taken place all over the world have ended up with major devastations such as loss of life, property damage and environmental degradation more often. Sri Lanka, being an island in the Indian ocean is much vulnerable to coastal hazards; the unprecedented human disaster that caused by the Asian Tsunami was one of the worst examples. Present studies show that there are lot of programs carried out by the government and non-government organizations to drag down the adversity towards the coastal communities in the country who are much vulnerable to coastal disasters, focusing all the segments of basically social, economic and environmental aspects. Evacuation of coastal communities safely in disastrous situations is one of the main requirements within the disaster recovery framework. Having effective multi-hazard early warning (MHEW) systems and procedures in place in the coastal regions of the country helps to reduce the disaster risk. Although there are policies and pract...
International Collaboration (IC) is very important for the improvement of resilience of countries... more International Collaboration (IC) is very important for the improvement of resilience of countries to disasters. The rapid growth of science and technology is pivotal in this context to assist the resilience building process through innovation. Especially, when it comes to Asia, IC can assist Higher Education Institutions to carry out research activities that are robust and significant and strive towards research excellence to achieve global recognition. However, the knowledge on levels and issues for collaborative research work in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the Asian region is limited, which urges the necessity of conducting regional studies to identify possible areas of improvements. This paper aims to fill this gap.
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 2020
Purpose Even though Sri Lanka has established Early Warning (EW) mechanisms and Evacuation Proced... more Purpose Even though Sri Lanka has established Early Warning (EW) mechanisms and Evacuation Procedures (EP) for the communities affected by the coastal disasters, there are several gaps, which hinder effective mechanisms in operation of disaster management practices. These gaps affect both the vulnerable communities and relevant authorities involved in the Disaster Management sector. This paper aims to identify and evaluate those gaps while providing adequate solutions. Design/methodology/approach For that, questionnaire surveys were carried out with a sample size of 217 via an online survey (117) among the urban level and interviews and telephone interviews (100) with the village level coastal communities. Data analysis was carried out using statistical analysis of questionnaire surveys and grounded theory was used for in-depth qualitative study. Findings Primary and secondary data obtained from the surveys were categorized under five themes, namely, response to early warning system...
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 2019
Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to assess the disaster management mec... more Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to assess the disaster management mechanism in Sri Lanka by means of the established indicators and newly derived indicators. This could be used to identify the parameters, which should be paid much attention to improving the resilience of the built environment. Design/methodology/approach This paper initially examines the effectiveness of the existing mechanism using data from a field study, by identifying the parameters needed to be considered based on the existing literature. Then the study continues on identifying new parameters of evaluation, covering a broad multidisciplinary scope inclusive of geographic, demographic, environmental, technological, social, economic and political perspectives. The identification process is based on regression relationships; hence, a framework will be developed to assess the resilience of the built environment. Findings The findings showed that the existing disaster management mechanism...
Gap Assessment of Warning and Dissemination Process of Early Warning System in Coastal Areas of Sri Lanka
Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, 2019
Multi Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) issue warnings to help communities safely evacuate fro... more Multi Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) issue warnings to help communities safely evacuate from hazardous areas. Studies showed that the response of coastal communities to warnings issued by the existing MHEW system in Asian countries including Sri Lanka is insufficient. In this study, the current context and gaps of MHEW system related to the “warning and dissemination” process in the coastal regions of Sri Lanka were identified using a proper research methodology. Survey was carried out through oral questionnaires in selected coastal areas of Sri Lanka. By interpreting the output of the interviews, along with a deep literature review, the current context and gaps of the MHEW systems related to warning and dissemination in coastal areas of Sri Lanka were listed out. From the identified problems, key areas which need special attention of the Disaster Management Centre, were highlighted. Among them, introducing a better Nation-wide Emergency Communication system using more advanced technologies to directly disseminate warnings to vulnerable communities instantly, automating possible components of the warning dissemination process, increasing the number of early warning towers, increasing the human resource in the disaster management centre and establishing a specialized media department at the DMC to coordinate with the media were prominent. In addition, the necessity of improving response capability was highlighted.
MATEC Web of Conferences, 2018
University-Industry Partnerships (UIPs) in the field of DRR have produced several innovative tool... more University-Industry Partnerships (UIPs) in the field of DRR have produced several innovative tools, services, and advancements in industrial applications globally. However, from the Sri Lankan perspective, the level of UIPs appear to be significantly lower compared to the global context. In Sri Lanka, a country that has suffered a lot from natural disasters such as landslides and floods especially over the past few years, DRR activities are undertaken by the governmental and private sector organizations and volunteers, mostly as separate entities. This could lead to inefficiencies, overlapping of efforts, and also to the reinvention of the wheel. The Universities as Higher Education Institutions have a key role to play in bringing the aforementioned stakeholders together not only to strengthen the work they do by effective partnerships but also to come up with innovative solutions through research and development. The purpose of this paper is to explore how effective UIPs can be created in Sri Lanka to achieve the above by exploring; 1) current status of UIPs in Sri Lanka; 2) barriers to creating UIPs; 3) needs and opportunities for creating UIPs; 4) identifying best practices in creating strong and sustainable UIPs. The purpose will be fulfilled with the use of a literature review and by gathering stakeholder opinions. The research findings revealed that there is a need to develop a policy that addresses the aspects of knowledge diffusion, production, engagement, increasing the exposure of the academia for the industry and capacity building in universities. This is in order to tackle key barriers to creating UIPs. There is also a need for strong and effective leadership initiatives from universities to ensure sustainability of UIPs in Sri Lanka.
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Papers by Chameera Randil