Identification and Characterization of Highly Potential Post-Disaster Isolated Areas through Sorting Social Vulnerability

Abstract

Abstract Identifying and characterizing post-disaster isolated areas are critical to the success of large-scale disaster management. A post-disaster isolated area (PDIA) refers to an area that can hardly be reached because of the destruction of traffic networks amid a disaster. Lacking relief and medical resources also inflicts psychological impacts on vulnerable dwellers in a PDIA. We believe humanitarian relief can be planned prior to disaster devastation. If a connected area has installed a relief facility, such as a hospital, the road damage may not severely affect the residents in PDIAs. This study enables the exploration of PDIAs characterized by the possibility of disaster occurrence and social vulnerability; and moreover, identifying the size of connected areas, also called responsible areas, to facilitate emergency relief supply and distribution in PDIAs amid a disaster. This research represents a joint venture with a national-level government agent, targeting a highly vulnerable territory that permits, efficiently and effectively, identifying and characterizing PDIAs from the perspective of social vulnerability. We adopt multi-data sources that incorporate socioeconomic, geographic, and disaster impact data gained and inputted from a national earthquake impact information platform. By conceptualizing and incorporating a syncretic disaster-risk index into the clustering metric, managerial endeavor becomes possible. We find that the chosen sizes of responsible areas of PDIAs are decisive, and by managing to maintain at least one relief facility in each PDIA, the impact on the dwellers can be mitigated.