Abstract
Critical infrastructure failures from natural hazard events affect the economic and social well-being of communities. This is particularly true in lower income countries, where infrastructure may be less resistant to natural hazards and disaster recovery is often limited by available resources. The interconnectivity of these systems can strongly affect the services they deliver, and the failure of one infrastructure system can result in cascade failures with wide-reaching consequences. Unfortunately, interconnectivity has been particularly difficult to measure. We present a method for identifying service-oriented interdependencies in interconnected networks. The approach uses well-established methods for network analysis and is demonstrated for healthcare services in the Commonwealth of Dominica, a small island state in the Caribbean. We show that critical links in road networks necessary for healthcare service delivery are important for more than just patient access to a facility, but also on the supply chains that enable the hospitals to function (e.g., water, fuel, medicine). Once identified, the critical links can be overlaid with known hazard vulnerabilities to identify the infrastructure segments of highest priority, based on the risk and consequences of failure. An advantage of the approach presented is that it requires relatively little input data when compared to many network prioritization models and can be run using open-source geospatial data such as OpenStreetMap. The method can be expanded beyond road networks to assess the service-oriented criticality of any infrastructure network.
Highlights
The value of critical infrastructure systems is directly related to the services they provide and enable
We show that critical links in road networks necessary for healthcare service delivery are important for more than just patient access to a facility, and on the supply chains that enable the hospitals to function
The interconnectivity of multiple services required for healthcare operations at hospitals in the Commonwealth of Dominica includes delivery of water, fuel for electricity, imported supplies and patients
Summary
The value of critical infrastructure systems is directly related to the services they provide and enable. In 2017, global economic losses related to natural hazard events are estimated to have been ~ $337 billion, with less than half of this insured (Swiss Re 2018). These direct impacts are expensive and result in part from the failure of critical infrastructure systems including roads, railways, transmission infrastructure, buildings and other assets. Indirect impacts such as loss of income, disruption of supply chains and injuries and morbidity, among other factors, Schweikert et al Appl Netw Sci (2021) 6:44 add to these costs. A recent World Bank study estimated these impacts as well as those resulting from climate change at $391–647 billion for households and firms annually in low- and middle-income countries (Hallegatte et al 2019a, b)
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