Building damage and business continuity management in the event of natural hazards: Case study of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka

The Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami event on the 26 December 2004 has provided a unique and valuable opportunity to evaluate the performance of various structures, facilities and lifeline systems during the tsunami wave attacks. There are especially meaningful observations concerning the structural changes due to the tsunami forces, which open up a wide area of research to develop the mitigation procedure. The business restoration process of business companies in terms of buildings, facilities and lifelines have shown greater research interest. In this study, we investigated the restoration process of business sectors in East and South coastal region in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. A field survey was conducted in East and South coast of Sri Lanka, in order to study the affecting parameters to damage assessment in the restoration process of the business companies. The results of the questionnaire-based field survey are then compared with the statistical analysis results. Finally, the factors affecting the restoration process after the tsunami are identified. As a main conclusion, financial support could be the most important reason for delays in restoration. Moreover, it has been observed that the tsunami inundation level of higher than one meter may have had more effect concerning the damage to the structures and requires additional time for restoration than other areas.