10 years since Indian Ocean tsunami, still gaps in disaster prep

A decade ago on Boxing Day, many woke up to news of the Indian Ocean tsunami. The number of dead from the Asian tsunami would be more than 200, 000 spread out over several countries--the worst in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Ten years on, we speak with a woman who barely escaped the tsunami's waves that day and who's made a new life in Canada.

When the Boxing Day tsunami struck on December 26th, 2004, Maria Menaka Thomas was in her native Sri Lanka. She was on a beach with her family, near where she lived on the east coat of the island, in an area known as Batticoala.

Maria Menaka Thomas joined us in our Toronto studio. She now lives in Pickering, Ontario with her husband and two children.

In the decade since the region was so devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami, the affected countries have been working to rebuild and to ensure that they're better prepared for future disasters.

Shamika N. Sirimanne feels there are still gaps in the region's early warning system. She is director of the Disaster Risk Reduction Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

This segment was produced by The Current's Lara O'Brien and Josh Bloch.