Towards quantifying the communication aspect of resilience in disaster-prone communities

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the communication networks of urban, suburban, and rural communities from three US Midwest counties through a stochastic model that simulates the diffusion of information over time in disaster and in normal situations. To understand information diffusion in communities, we investigate the interplay of information that individuals get from online social networks, local news, government sources, mainstream media, and print media. We utilize survey data collected from target communities and create graphs of each community to quantify node-to-node and source-to-node interactions, as well as trust patterns. Monte Carlo simulation results show the average time it takes for information to propagate to 90% of the population for each community. We conclude that rural, suburban, and urban communities have different inherent properties promoting the varied flow of information. Also, information sources affect information spread differently, causing degradation of information speed if any source becomes unavailable. Finally, we provide insights on the optimal investments to improve disaster communication based on community features and contexts.