The Tsunami's Windfall
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4052014 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elisabeth Armstrong (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 183-190 |
| Publication date | 2006-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Meridians (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1536-6936 • E-ISSN: 1547-8424 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2979/mer.2006.7.1.183 |
| OpenAlex | W2094182195 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 2 |
On January 15 2005 three weeks after the Tsunami I visited relief camps in and around North Chennai India with the All India Democratic Womens Association (AIDWA) which was in the process of assessing damage and reconstruction needs. AIDWA a national organization with 450000 members in the state of Tamil Nadu alone was able to provide its services in the immediate aftermath of the disaster in a highly coordinated effort across the coastal areas of the state. On the very day that the tsunami hit December 26 AIDWA activists had already begun to visit hospitals towns and villages to help people. Their fundamental goal to help others simply survive was evident in the city of Nagapattinam in the Thirukkadaiyur area where a large group of refugees from local areas had gathered for safety from the flood waters. When local officials could not agree what to do with the sudden influx of destitute people two AIDWA activists broke the lock of a public school and opened the door to the survivors. They then mobilized their city members to collect over 800 pounds of rice to feed the refugees. January 15 was the last day of Pongal a harvest festival in Tamil Nadu in which rice is boiled with milk until it overflows. The ritual symbolizes community hopes for a year of plenty but in the wake of the avalanche of aid for tsunami victims it appeared to also represent another kind of plenty: individual greed and official corruption in the distribution of resources. (excerpt)
Economics · Macroeconomics · Windfall gain · Disaster Management and Resilience · Geology
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2011 - 2014 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |