Determination of relief supplies demands and allocation of temporary disaster response facilities

Abstract

Distribution of relief supplies and allocation of the facilities to store these supplies are important pre-and post-Disaster Operations Management (DOM) activities. In this study, we propose a simulation-based approach to determine the demands of relief supplies until the governmental and/or central humanitarian organizations (i.e., the Turkish Red Crescent-TRC) reach to the affected area. We then develop a plan to allocate the so-called temporary-disaster-response (TDR) facilities and distribute the relief supplies stored in these facilities. An earthquake case study is constructed for the Yildirim district of Bursa-Turkey including 64 neighborhoods. Corresponding relief supplies demands are determined by analyzing the time it takes for the TRC to reach the affected area using the simulation model with two different system designs. The two-phase integer program is then used to develop a pre-positioning plan, i.e., allocation of TDR facilities and distribution of relief supplies.