Susanne Kubisch, Johanna Stötzer, Sina Keller, María Bull, & Andreas Braun. (2019). Combining a social science approach and GIS-based simulation to analyse evacuation in natural disasters: A case study in the Chilean community of Talcahuano. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: In rapid-onset disasters the time needed for evacuation is crucial. Aside from the behaviour of the population, the
road network plays a fundamental role. It serves as a medium to reach a safe area. This study analyses the entire
evacuation process, from decision-making up to the arrival at an evacuation zone by combining standardised
questionnaires and GIS-based simulation. Based on a case study in the Chilean community of Talcahuano, an
event-based past scenario and a hypothetical future scenario is investigated, integrating the affected population in
the research process. The main problem identified in past evacuations has been time delay due to congestions,
which also is evident in the results of the hypothetical future scenario. A result which supports evacuation by foot.
This paper argues that a combination of scientific methods is essential for analysing evacuation and to reduce the
risk due to time delay, critical route and transport medium choice.
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