Abstract:
Flood is one of the major natural and human-induced disasters in Sri Lanka
and the majority of people who live in low-lying areas in both Wet and Dry
Climatic Zones of Sri Lanka are highly vulnerable for the flood. The risk of
flood disasters would be significantly reduced by an effective early warning
system. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of
current early warning systems of Sri Lanka and to make recommendations to
improve the current early warning systems. The study has selected the Kelani
River basin as a study region and Yabaroluwa North village in Biyagama DSD
has been selected to field study under the case study method. To achieve the
objectives, the stratified sampling method was used and the sample was
selected randomly. The quantitative data were collected by questionnaire and
qualitative data were collected by focus group discussions and key informant
discussions. Relevant articles, study reports, research findings, other
published documents, and different databases were used for secondary data.
Both Descriptive and analytical methods were used. The study reveals that
the main weakness of the flood early warning methods is that the message
does not receive to the grassroots and many warning systems are too common
and not specified the message and the target areas. Still, the Disaster
Management Center uses traditional ways to convey the message. The
government’s regular and active intervention and assistance to promote new
technological methods and about knowledge, warning given from the main
three languages and warnings should warning go directly for vulnerable
people.
