Editorial
Tsunami warnings
Timely evacuation of people a sign of preparedness
There is a palpable sense of relief all over the country that the tsunami threat has passed. One hardly needs speculating on the immensity of the damage to life and property as also to the environment it might have caused. We thus consider ourselves fortunate that the worst did not come to pass and life in the coastal regions has remained unaffected.
What has drawn our attention, though, is the nature of the preparedness the administration and the people at large demonstrated in the face of a warning of an impending tsunami. It was remarkable how an evacuation of tens of thousands of people was undertaken and completed within the space of a couple of hours in the areas under threat. It is a credit to the efficiency and seriousness of purpose demonstrated by the administration, together with the very admirable efforts of volunteers toward dealing with the danger, that such a quick relocation of people was made possible. It is also a sign of how modern communication systems can facilitate exchange of information between regions and between nations, especially in times of probable disaster. In the case of the tsunami we have just skirted around, it was the availability of timely information across a large swathe of territory that played a decisive role in the precautionary measures the Bangladesh authorities undertook in the coastal region on Wednesday. In the last few years, particularly in light of the recent tsunami that battered Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, tsunami centres in the Pacific and India have played a pivotal role in serving warnings of looming disasters.
While we are relieved that the feared tsunami did not materialise along our coastal region, we feel it is time for renewed emphasis to be placed on the development of scientific systems that will help us deal with future eventualities. The earthquakes in Indonesia only serve to remind us that Bangladesh too straddles an earthquake region, which makes early warning systems that much more significant. Meanwhile, our condolences go out to the people of Indonesia over the death of a number of their compatriots in Wednesday's earthquake.
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