Disaster Management in Coastal Areas: An Introduction

Abstract

The coastal regions are five times more vulnerable to disasters than the hinterlands. About 80{\%} of disasters are linked to water and the coastal areas are most exposed to water. More than 80{\%} of the earth's surface is water and now humans are in search of water on the moon. The majority of countries in Asia have are near the sea. India, a sub-continent in itself, has a 10,000 km coastline. Sri Lanka, an island country, is situated at the confluence of two seas and an ocean. Bangladesh is considered one of the most vulnerable countries in terms of the vagaries of disasters that are connected to the sea; its geo-morphological features are such that a large part of its coastline lies at a level lower than the MSP.