Session 7a: Catastrophe Readiness and Response Course1 Session 7a - Logistics Tricia Wachtendorf, PhD University of Delaware Disaster Research Center

Session 7a: Catastrophe Readiness and Response Course 1

Session 7a - Logistics

Tricia Wachtendorf, PhD

University of Delaware

Disaster Research Center


Role of Logistics

• Get the right supplies and personnel to the place where they are needed at the correct time, as efficiently as possible.

• Make it possible for disaster responders to do their work.

• Make it possible for catastrophe-affected populations to acquire what they need for survival and rebuilding.


Barriers

• Communications systems down

• Damage to/collapse of transportation, power supplies, water supplies

• Overwhelming need/demand for relief from widely spread populations

• The difficulties inherent in a multi-agency multi-government response

• Convergence


Convergence vs. Convergence

• Social Science/Disaster Research Meaning– Influx of people, materiel, and information toward

response-related areas (may or may not be the impact site)

– Interested in how best to coordinate convergence, or controlling it if possible and appropriate

• Mathematical Meaning– Approach toward a specific value or definitive point– Interested in how to foster an accelerated

convergence between dynamic needs and supply flows of critical resources


Convergence (influx)

• External convergence – “the notion of movement toward the disaster-struck area

from the outside”

• Internal convergence – “movement toward specific points within a given disaster-

related area or zone”

Fritz, C. E. and Mathewson, J.H. (1957). Convergence Behavior in Disasters: A Problem in Social Control. Committee on Disaster Studies. Disaster Research Group.


What are the features of catastrophe and how do they impact the delivery of critical

supplies?For additional information see:Quarantelli, E.L. (2005). Catastrophes are Different from Disasters: Implications for Crisis Planning and Managing drawn from Katrina. Understanding Katrina: Perspectives from the Social Sciences, Social Science Research Council. http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org

Wachtendorf, T., B. Brown, J. Holguin-Veras, S, Ukusuri (2008). Catastrophe Characteristics and their Impact on Critical Supply Chains: Materiel Convergence Following Hurricane Katrina. Preliminary Paper No. XX. Disaster Research Center University of Delaware: Newark, DE

http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/


Characteristics of Catastrophe

Most or all of the community built structure is heavily impacted….[and] the facilities and operational bases of most emergency organizations are themselves usually hit.

• Damage to roads and bridges creates difficulties navigating the impact zone, resulting in significant time delays in supply delivery

• Damage to communication infrastructure leads to inadequate communications

• Pre-positioned supplies may be damaged

• Alternative space for supply warehousing and distribution may be difficult to identify

• The response and short term recovery period may be protracted. A quick influx of long-term recovery-related supplies may unnecessarily clog the system

Consequence to Emergency Supply Chain


Characteristics of

Catastrophe

Local officials are unable to undertake their usual work role, and this often extends into the recovery period

• Overburden on the local system and difficulties contacting those who would normally communicate needs in a disaster

• Additional personnel from outside the area is especially needed to (_____ the) emergency supply chain, even though integrating outside personnel can bring coordination challenges



Characteristics of

Catastrophe

• Nearby communities cannot provide help

• Competition exists between communities for scarce resources rather than mutual aid provision(s)

• Greater need for external convergence equals:

• greater time delays in reaching impacted areas

• increased challenges in coordinating what is coming in



Characteristics of

Catastrophe • Most, if not all, of the

everyday community functions are sharply and concurrently interrupted

• Some community-based organizations that would normally play a role in distribution (e.g. some local food banks or churches) are themselves significantly impacted or not allowed back into impacted areas

• Local commerce is impacted, making it more difficult to acquire large amounts of resources locally or to identify local suppliers still in operation



• The mass media system, especially in recent times, socially constructs catastrophes even more than they do disasters

• Convergence of donated goods from across the county and around the world occurs on a larger scale

• As a result, logistics operators encounter additional challenges (more than the “typical disaster”) in sorting perishable or low priority goods from high priority items

• Media may, more so than in a disaster, serve a role in providing the first picture of critical needs, thereby impacting the flow of supplies through their particular framing of the event

Consequence to Supply Chain in Katrina

Characteristics of Catastrophe


Characteristics of

Catastrophe

• Because of the previous five processes, the political arena becomes even more important

• Heightened discourse will be present with regard to who is at fault, as different levels of government blame one another for inadequacies in supply distribution



Characteristics of

Catastrophe

• Mass and extended out-migration of residents

• Competing demands for emergency resources spread over a wider area, adding further complexity to the flow of goods as location of those in need changes

Consequence to Supply Chain in Katrina


All photos below are from the weeks following Hurricane Katrina and include sites in Mississippi and Louisiana.

All photos are copy written 2005 by the Disaster Research Center. All rights reserved.

Photos are free for use for educational purposes and can be added to lecture slides by the course instructor.

Photos must note the following caption: Photo courtesy of

The Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware





In-Class Activity

• subsistence• energy (e.g. oil and

electricity)• administrative

supplies• petroleum products• engineering and

construction materiel• personal demand

products (e.g. water and ice)

• major items (e.g. mobile units)

• medical materiel• property (e.g. space)• facilities• telecommunications• transportation

Materiel Resources Needed for a Catastrophic Event


All photos in the “in-class activity” slide were taken in India following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

All photos are copy written 2005 by the Disaster Research Center. All rights reserved.

Photos are free for use for educational purposes and can be added to lecture slides by the course instructor.

Photos must note the following caption: Photo courtesy of

The Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware


In-Class Activity

Documents

Session 7a: Catastrophe Readiness and Response Course1 Session 7a - Logistics Tricia Wachtendorf, PhD University of Delaware Disaster Research Center