Capacity Building for an Infrastructure System in Case of Disaster Using the System's Associated Social and Technical Components

Abstract

Disasters often indirectly cause two impacts that may impede recovery: a decline in the capacity of a system because of failures in its supporting components and a surge in demand for the system's services. Therefore, there is a need to quantitatively assess how a system can extend its capacity to adapt to a trying situation where it is challenged to its limits by both direct and indirect impacts. In this paper, an alternative quantitative model is presented for the performance of an infrastructure system in the context of postdisaster operations. The functional stress and strain of various system components are then analyzed as a potential additional metric for resilience. The analysis quantifies the reciprocal effects between the social and technical components on the performance of a postdisaster infrastructure system during the recovery process. A stylized model of a healthcare infrastructure system is developed as a proof of concept. The model is used to present a systematic understanding of the strategic planning and policy development needed to enhance resilience in infrastructure systems. Specifically, strategies focused on the technical components of infrastructure systems are contrasted with strategies focused on social components. Through the application of the model, we improve our understanding of how a system can extend its capacity and still function in the face of disasters.