Interdependence and dynamics of essential services in an extensive risk context: a case study in Montserrat, West Indies

Abstract. The essential services that support urban living are complex and interdependent, and their disruption in disasters directly affects society. Yet there are few empirical studies to inform our understanding of the vulnerabilities and resilience of complex infrastructure systems in disasters. This research takes a systems thinking approach to explore the dynamic behaviour of a network of essential services, in the presence and absence of volcanic ashfall hazards in Montserrat, West Indies. Adopting a case study methodology and qualitative methods to gather empirical data, we centre the study on the healthcare system and its interconnected network of essential services. We identify different types of relationship between sectors and develop a new interdependence classification system for analysis. Relationships are further categorised by hazard conditions, for use in extensive risk contexts. During heightened volcanic activity, relationships between systems transform in both number and type: connections increase across the network by 41%, and adapt to increase cooperation and information sharing. Interconnections add capacities to the network, increasing the resilience of prioritised sectors. This in-depth and context-specific approach provides a new methodology for studying the dynamics of infrastructure interdependence in an extensive risk context, and can be adapted for use in other hazard contexts.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

• Publication date

  2015-05-07

• Fields of study

  Computer Science, Engineering, Geography, Environmental Science, Sociology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.5194/NHESS-15-947-2015
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The Eruption of Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat from 2000 to 2010

  2015cited by this paper
• Infrastructure Resilience to Disasters

  2014cited by this paper
• Chapter 26 Consequences of long-term volcanic activity for essential services in Montserrat: challenges, adaptations and resilience

  2014cited by this paper
• Exploring the dynamics and consequences of long-term volcanic activity for the healthcare system in Montserrat, West Indies

  2014cited by this paper
• Preparing for complex interdependent risks: a system of systems approach to building disaster resilience

  2014cited by this paper
• An introduction to systems thinking

  2013cited by this paper
• Impact assessment of the May 2010 eruption of Pacaya volcano, Guatemala

  2012cited by this paper
• Volcanic ash impacts on critical infrastructure

  2012cited by this paper
• System of Systems

  2012cited by this paper
• Thinking in systems: a primer

  2012cited by this paper
• "System-of-systems" approach for interdependent critical infrastructures

  2011cited by this paper
• Systems Approach to Management of Disasters: Methods and Applications

  2011cited by this paper
• Infrastructure impacts, management and adaptations to eruptions at Volcán Tungurahua, Ecuador, 1999-2010

  2011cited by this paper
• Ash storms: impacts of wind-remobilised volcanic ash on rural communities and agriculture following the 1991 Hudson eruption, southern Patagonia, Chile

  2011cited by this paper
• Resilience strategies of healthcare facilities: present and future

  2010cited by this paper
• Disaster impact analysis based on inter‐relationship of critical infrastructure and associated industries

  2010influential reference
• The ecosystem approach: complexity, uncertainty, and managing for sustainability

  2010cited by this paper
• Vulnerability of farm water supply systems to volcanic ash fall

  2010cited by this paper
• Methodology for Assessing the Resilience of Networked Infrastructure

  2009cited by this paper
• Decision Making for Extreme Events: Modeling Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies to Aid Mitigation and Response Planning

  2009influential reference
• Fostering resilience to extreme events within infrastructure systems: Characterizing decision contexts for mitigation and adaptation

  2008cited by this paper
• The Ecosystem Approach: Complexity, Uncertainty, and Managing for Sustainability

  2008cited by this paper
• Urban Systems during Disasters: Factors for Resilience

  2008cited by this paper
• Infrastructure failure interdependencies in extreme events: power outage consequences in the 1998 Ice Storm

  2007cited by this paper
• Social Research Methods

  2006cited by this paper
• Toward a network perspective of the study of resilience in social-ecological systems

  2006cited by this paper
• Contamination of water supplies by volcanic ashfall: A literature review and simple impact modelling

  2006cited by this paper
• Volcanic Island in Crisis: Investigating Environmental Uncertainty and the Complexities it Brings

  2006cited by this paper
• Impacts and management of recent volcanic eruptions in Ecuador: lessons for New Zealand

  2005cited by this paper
• Measuring Improvements in the Disaster Resilience of Communities

  2004cited by this paper
• Chronic Hazards: Health Impacts Associated with On-Going Ash-Falls Around Mt. Tungurahua in Ecuador

  2004cited by this paper
• A Framework to Quantitatively Assess and Enhance the Seismic Resilience of Communities

  2003cited by this paper
• Setting, chronology and consequences of the eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat (1995-1999)

  2002cited by this paper
• Assessing urban vulnerability and social adaptation to risk: Evidence from Santo Domingo

  2002cited by this paper
• The eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat from 1995 to 1999

  2002cited by this paper
• The eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat (1995-1999): overview of scientific results

  2002cited by this paper
• The Montserrat Volcano Observatory: its evolution, organization, role and activities

  2002cited by this paper
• Identifying, understanding, and analyzing critical infrastructure interdependencies

  2001cited by this paper
• Managing societal uncertainty in volcanic hazards: a multidisciplinary approach

  2000cited by this paper
• Impacts of the 1945 and 1995–1996 Ruapehu eruptions, New Zealand: An example of increasing societal vulnerability

  2000cited by this paper
• At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability, and Disasters

  1997cited by this paper
• At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters

  1996cited by this paper
• Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): analysis of experience

  1994cited by this paper
• Lifelines: An Emergency Management Priority for the United States in the 1990s

  1991cited by this paper
• Social Network Analysis

  1988cited by this paper
• Volcanic Hazards: A Sourcebook on the Effects of Eruptions

  1985cited by this paper
• Crisis Response Planning Toward a Contingent Analysis

  1984influential reference
• 1 – VOLCANIC ACTIVITY AND VOLCANIC HAZARDS

  1984cited by this paper
• Systems Thinking, Systems Practice

  1981influential reference
• Network Analysis

  1964cited by this paper
• Critical Infrastructure , Interdependencies , and Resilience

  year unknowncited by this paper

• Risk assessment and recovery trajectories of a social-ecological system with a discrete-event model after a volcanic eruption

  2023cites this paper
• Risk Assessment and Recovery Trajectories of a Social-Ecological System after a Volcanic Eruption

  2022influential citation
• Integrating criticality concepts into road network disruption assessments for volcanic eruptions

  2022cites this paper
• VEC model of water infrastructure in Los Angeles: implications for community resilience and recovery

  2022cites this paper
• Modular interdependency analysis for water distribution systems.

  2021cites this paper
• Assessment of risk associated with tephra-related hazards

  2021cites this paper
• Integrative Post-event Impact Assessment Framework for Volcanic Eruptions: A Disaster Forensic Investigation of the 2011–2012 Eruption of the Cordón Caulle Volcano (Chile)

  2021cites this paper
• From anecdotes to quantification: advances in characterizing volcanic eruption impacts on the built environment

  2021cites this paper
• Analysis of employment change in response to hurricane landfalls

  2019cites this paper
• Framework for developing volcanic fragility and vulnerability functions for critical infrastructure

  2017cites this paper
• Modellability of System Characteristics - Using Formal Mark-up Languages for Change Capability by Design

  2016cites this paper