A Long 'Last Mile': The Lesson of the Asian Tsunami

In this SciDev opinion article, Nalaka Gunawardene argues that governments in disaster-prone areas need stronger partnerships with the media to ensure that information gets rapidly where it is needed during emergencies. He points out that there was an official tsunami warning within an hour of the undersea earthquake causing the 2004 disaster in the Pacific, but poses the question: "Who was listening?" Using Sri Lanka as his example, he states that public officials, who might have had access to the information, did not react or move the information internally for access by others. In other countries, he reports that the information reached officials but was suppressed to reduce alarm. He questions how upgrading the sophistication of technology carrying early warning messages can change results of the lack of leadership and its failure to act on the early warnings it might receive. "The most advanced early warning system in the world can only do half the job: they can alert governments and other centres of power (e.g. military) of an impending disaster. The far bigger challenge is to disseminate that warning to large numbers of people spread across vast areas in the shortest possible time."

The author recognises the utility of loudspeaker/ siren systems in densely populated coastal areas, but, in seeking the same level of access for everyone, even in remote areas, he recommends "FM radio and television channels that reach out to most households day and night." A well-coordinated plan to tap the extended outreach of mass media through partnerships is the strategy proposed for reaching the "last mile."


The author criticises Asian governments for their management of public information, particularly for covering up their own errors with denial, suppression, understatement, and the use of the label "national security". He emphasises the need for a rapid and credible response by governments, public media, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and individuals to early warning messages: "Our so-called public media received the information within minutes. But they also dithered, unwilling to be the first to break the news. In desperation, some public-spirited individuals and NGOs used whatever private means they could muster - including mobile phones and privately owned media channels - to warn as many coastal communities as they could reach." Thus, as the author points out, a bigger challenge is to ensure both action and credibility of an early warning system linked through governments to mass media.