The chapter focuses on disaster governance in the context of the earthquake and tsunami that severely hit the war-torn areas of Aceh and Sri Lanka in December 2004. It explores how the tsunami response and recovery actions were influenced by the ongoing armed conflicts and how the process of tsunami recovery, in its own turn, shaped the politics of the violent conflicts. The chapter takes a closer look at the urban dimension of tsunami recovery and at urban–rural intersections. While the tsunami on the one hand opened up a window of opportunity for reaching a peaceful solution to the violent conflicts, at the same time, as illustrated in the chapter, the natural disaster also contributed to consolidate dividing lines between geographical localities, urban and rural societies and identity groups. The chapter points to the importance of recognising competing governance systems and how prior tensions, cleavages and political power struggles might be reproduced and accentuated in the light of environmental disasters. In conclusion, the chapter underlines the essential importance of taking context into account and of recognising the political processes at play so as to understand the response and recovery from environmental disasters in different conflict settings and societies.