Maximizing Temporary Housing Safety after Natural Disasters
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 16, Issue 2
Abstract
In the aftermath of large-scale natural disasters, emergency management organizations are expected to provide safe temporary housing for a large number of displaced families and to ensure that these housing arrangements are not located in hazardous areas. Potential postdisaster hazards can take many forms such as earthquake aftershocks, landslides, postearthquake soil liquefaction, flooding, hazardous material releases, etc. This paper presents the development of a multiobjective optimization methodology to support decision-makers in emergency management organizations in optimizing postdisaster temporary housing arrangements. The developed methodology incorporates (1) a safety model to measure and quantify temporary housing safety in the presence of multiple potential postdisaster hazards; (2) a cost model to minimize total public expenditures on temporary housing; and (3) a multiobjective optimization model to simultaneously maximize temporary housing safety and minimize public expenditures on temporary housing. An application to a large region is presented to illustrate the use of the models and demonstrate their capabilities in optimizing postdisaster temporary housing arrangements.
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Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work supported by the Mid-America Earthquake Center and the National Science Foundation under NSF CAREER Award No. NSFCMS 0238470. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 16 • Issue 2 • June 2010
Pages: 138 - 148
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 22, 2008
Accepted: Jul 31, 2009
Published online: Aug 3, 2009
Published in print: Jun 2010
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