On 26 December 2004, when the Indian Ocean tsunami smashed into Galle Harbour, the same sturdy ramparts withstood the sea's mighty onslaught largely undamaged and within Galle Fort at least only one soul was lost compared to hundreds outside. For days afterwards Amangalla, once the setting of a citizen's protest that saved the ramparts from destruction, provided food and shelter for survivors from the rest of Galle Town outside the rampart protected area