Aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami on Maldives

Table of Contents

Abstracti

Introduction1

The country most affected by the disaster1

The Maldives1

The weakening economic centers: the question of the overall impact3

The economic structure of the Maldives3

Damage to production equipment4

Overall economic problem6

Substantial property damage7

The general frame and housing7

Other damage9

The problem of increasing population10

References12

Abstract

We present the main effects, material and economic, of the disaster, because they are causing the evacuation of some communities and also explain the difficulties (lack of boats, for example). Despite a relatively small number of victims, the Maldivian archipelago is one of the biggest victims of the tsunami, particularly because its vital economic centers were severely and permanently assigned. The small scale (the country, atolls) was preferred to highlight the physical and economic consequences, while the great (one of the islands in the atoll) is used for the analysis of evacuation strategies. The Maldives economy is based on three pillars, the most modern, tourism, dominates those of agriculture and fisheries, both more traditional and less profitable. Less profitable because of heavy natural constraints - narrow islands and poor soils, including - explain that the coral islands were unable to withstand large-scale agricultural production and locally, their inhabitants have used very early on the uninhabited islands of neighboring their areas as agriculture, livestock and timber reserves. In total, 57% of inhabited land in the country was more or less submerged. These figures reflect the increased vulnerability to natural hazards related to the sea territory combining the constraints: (a) small areas of Islands (between 0.3 and 0.7 km 2 on average) (b) low altimetry (c) territorial break which boosts the coastline exposed to the swells, and (d) oceanic isolation limits the effects of braking waves related to the preliminary meeting of another land. These are the same characteristics - including (a) and (c) - that explain, we will see later, complications related to the evacuation of communities most affected.

Aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami on Maldives

Introduction

After the December 2004 tsunami, many problems have arisen about the evacuation of the islands most affected of the Maldives. The complexity of the evacuation process reflects the constraints faced by the country, both inherent to the natural characteristics of the territory and the fact that the Maldives is a developing country. The analysis on evacuation of affected communities brings many lessons on the burden of micro-island archipelago and underdevelopment. We present the main effects, material and economic, of the disaster, because they are causing the evacuation of some communities and also explain the difficulties (lack of boats, for example). Despite a relatively small number of victims, the Maldivian archipelago is one of the biggest victims of the tsunami, particularly because its vital economic centers were severely and permanently assigned. The small scale (the country, atolls) was preferred to highlight the physical and economic consequences, while the great (one of the islands in the atoll) is used for the analysis of evacuation strategies (Hyndman, 2011, pp. 125).

The country most affected by the disaster

The Maldives

On 26 December 2004, just four hours after a ...