A research project of The RESilient Emergency Preparedness for Natural Disaster Response through Operational Research (RESPOND-OR) led by the Centre for Transport and Logistics (CENTRAL) at Lancaster University, aims to tackle problems and improve natural disaster emergency preparedness and response.
The RESPOND-OR project will develop a Decision Support System that will support decisions related to: i) the allocation and distribution of disaster relief supplies, ii) the evacuation of population, and iii) the scheduling and routing of emergency response personnel. The project, funded by UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Global Challenge Research Fund (EPSRC/GCRF) programme*, involves multinational, interdisciplinary research team from UK (Lancaster University), Indonesia (Universitas Gadjah Mada and Universitas Indonesia) and Sudan (University of Khartoum). The research team is working closely with key stakeholders representing disaster management organisations in both Indonesia and Sudan. The key stakeholders in Indonesia are Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB), Disaster Management Agency of the Yogyakarta Special Region (BPBD DIY), and Humanitarian Forum Indonesia (HFI). The purpose is to ensure the alignment of the project outcomes to the stakeholders’ needs.
The UGM team involving three researchers, i.e., Bertha Maya Sopha, Ph.D., Hilya Mudrika Arini, Ph.D., and Sekar Sakti, M.Sc., is developing a simulation model to estimate the evacuation time and the number of evacuated residents (assisted and self-evacuated) for flood evacuation, which is applied in Jakarta context. The empirical data was collected, and the conceptual model was designed in October 2020 – March 2021. In April 2021, the first version of simulation combines agent-based modelling and discrete-event simulation. It simulates the evacuation process of people in neighbourhoods. The evacuation process is conducted using trucks and rubber boats, representing the actual response operations. The initial simulation model has been presented to BPNB and NGOs in a verification workshop in June 2021. The simulation model can be used as an experimental tool to better formulate the contingency plan for Jakarta flood evacuation. (Hilya Mudrika Arini, Ph.D.)