Disaster preparedness in the South East Asia region

This article presents an overview of risks and hazards in the South East Asia Region, as well as disaster preparedness and response in countries in South East Asia ( SEA) before and after the Tsunami of 26 December 2004. This event has become a reference point and turning point for most countries and organizations in improving and reforming disaster risk management. Changes have been put in place as to how emergencies are managed and these were largely brought about by taking forward lessons that were drawn from the Tsunami experience. Benchmarking for preparedness and response has been a critical step in the standardization of systems for emergency preparedness and response.