Multisystem Simulation: Analysis of Critical Infrastructures for Disaster Response

National critical infrastructures (e.g., electricity, water, transportation, etc.) form large complex systems that sustain essential living functions. During large emergencies (earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, etc.) multiple critical systems suffer damage and the normal recovery processes of individual infrastructures are not sufficient to bring back the combined system of systems. Coordinated action among infrastructures is needed to make the combined system operational and save as many human lives as possible. The complexity of the combined system of systems and the uncertainties of the available data require an approach that limits the number of possible operational states and leads to robust real-time solutions. An optimum coordinated response needs to consider the interactions among the multiple layers of an effective disaster response: the physical layer of buildings, lifelines, and critical resources, the information and control layer, and the decision layer where choices are made as to the best responses. The solution framework discussed in this chapter provides a structure to capture these interactions.