Abstract:
Sri Lanka has been facing natural disasters like floods, landslides and etc, for a long time. A common feature of all disasters experienced in Sri Lanka is that they emanate from mismanaging the critical environmental attributes of the country by the Government and the people alike. Sri Lanka’s environmental resources such as forests, water, rivers and wetlands deserve careful attention and protection as they form the basis of life of a nation. Severe deforestation still occurs in Sri Lanka and the UN estimated that 8,000 ha of forest are cleared every year even now. Corruption, mismanagement and covert and overt support by politicians exacerbate this destruction. Climate change, droughts and floods are closely related to deforestation and people and politicians are all culpable in this tragedy.
Ancient people could find out disasters by observing the sky or environmental changes or behavioral of the animals. After that the department of Meteorology issues early warning to the public using electronic media before disasters occur. Electronic media adverted their excessive biography for communicable aspect to all people in one time about pre – Disaster warnings. There are many electronic media activated SMS News Alerts system via mobile phones. People can get breaking news direct to their phone via SMS, or they can call to hear about the latest events. This essential service helps to people keep in touch with what’s happening in Sri Lanka and around the world in the language of their choice. News Alert mean; state of careful watching and readiness especially for danger or opportunity, an alarm or other signal of danger, a state of careful watching and readiness especially for danger or opportunity.
This research attempts to find out the potential of SMS News Alert in the communication of pre disaster warnings to the public. Although this is the main objective, it also tries to find out a what Sensory SMS News Alert System has spread in Sri Lanka. Methods like questionnaire and Interviews have been used to achieve these objectives. Hambantota, Matara, Kalutara and Anuradhapura districts selected in order of priority based on frequency of disasters occurring. 25 persons were selected randomly in each district. So far the early warning messages had been sent targeting only the key persons. Therefore, the overall purpose of this research is to find out how this method can be expanded, to send messages to the community as a whole. During the research it could be understood that people disbelieve of cause about early warning SMS News System, and these systems had not reached the society effectively
