The loader was the most awaited heavy gear in Batticaloa, as the purchased one could not be delivered in a reasonable time, a similar model was rented to enable the municipal council to do the heavier clearing work. The civil war at that time (see wikipedia here) had left the city of Batticaloa bare of all gear that could have been used for military purposes, and heavy trucks and loader certainly fell in that category. For the cleanup after the tsunami of course this was an enormous hindrance.
The neighbouring town of Kalmunai was similarly heavy hit by the waves of Dec. 26th, 2004, and 2 months later, the ship wrecks were still in the streets. The provisional health care center of Saintamaruthu (last image) was finally re-built with donations from the City of Nuremberg in Germany (see those images). A working relationship still exists between Nuremberg and Kalmunai.