USVI Recovery - Center for Infrastructure Defense
Operational Resilience Analysis and Capacity Building in the US Virgin Islands
Operational Resilience Analysis and Capacity Building in the US Virgin Islands
Sponsor: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Project Abstract: This project builds on preliminary work to provide modeling, analysis, and subject matter expertise to the Infrastructure Systems (IS) Recovery Support Function (RSF) and the Community Planning and Capacity Building RSF following Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria in the territory of the US Virgin Islands. Specifically, this project proposes (1) ongoing modeling and analysis of interdependent infrastructure systems within the territory, with emphasis on assessing and improving their operational resilience; (2) support for the development of a next-generation hazard mitigation and resilience plan in the territory; and (3) capacity building efforts via the development of an education and training pipeline for knowledgeable professionals who understand and think about hazard mitigation and operational resilience of the USVI in everything they do. This project explicitly supports several other complementary efforts, particularly those hosted at the University of the Virgin Islands.
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Project Members
Dr. David Alderson, Operations Research, Principal Investigator
Dr. Daniel Eisenberg, Operations Research
Dr. Justin Rohrer, Computer Science
Dr. Robert Beverly, Computer Science
Elle Hancock, Operations Research
Alan Howard, NPS Energy Academic Group
CPT Dominik Wille, German Army
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Simulation Optimization for Operational Resilience of Interdependent Water-Power Systems in the US Virgin Islands.
Cpt Dominik Wille, German Army | M.S Thesis in Operations Research (Completed Dec. 2019)
This work studies the water and power distribution systems on the island of St. Croix (STX) to predict the outcome of interdependent water-power failure events and recommend system hardening and protection activities. As the storms revealed, loss of electricity on STX can also lead to loss of pumping stations that distribute water. During these situations operators rely on water storage tanks to serve communities until electricity and pumps return to service. The goal of this thesis is to model how water-power failures happen and recommend ways to prevent them by answering the following questions:
- How do worst-case and hurricane induced blackouts affect STX pumping stations?
- How long can the STX water system provide services without electricity?
- In what ways can STX power infrastructure be hardened to support water distribution?
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An Operational Model of the Critical Supply Chain for the U.S. Virgin Islands
LCDR Jeffery E. Good | MS Thesis Operations Research (Completed September 2019)
Hurricanes Irma and Maria deposited over 660,000 tons of debris on roads and also created mudslides, rock slides, sinkholes, and washouts that blocked surface transportation for months. The damage to surface roads caused significant last-mile distribution problems that affected the ability to distribute disaster relief supplies within the islands and limited community access to these supplies during post-disaster curfews. This thesis (1) develops computer models and supporting data of surface road transportation and supply chain infrastructure for the island of St. Croix and uses the models to assess community mobility and disaster relief during disasters. Specifically, we assess:
- round trip travel times and roadway congestion when residents travel to acquire food, fuel, and emergency supplies during post-disaster curfews;
- total number of containerized cargo that can travel from ports to locations of disaster relief during congested traffic conditions; and,
- which road segments, if blocked, have the potential to create the most congestion and hardship on travelers.
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Technical Reports, Theses, Articles and Other Written Products:
- Klise K, et al. "Resilience Analysis of Potable Water Service after Power Outages in the U.S. Virgin Islands," Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2022.
- Routley R, "An Operational Model of the Critical Supply Chain for St. Thomas and St. John," Master’s thesis, Department of Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, September 2020.
- Bengigi E, "Efficiency and Resilience Trade-offs for Roadway Intersection Design in the U.S. Virgin Islands," Master’s thesis, Department of Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, September 2020.
- Moeller B, "Synthetic Network Generation and Vulnerability Analysis of Internet Infrastructure Systems in the United States Virgin Islands," Master’s thesis, Department of Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, June 2020.
- Wine W, "Analyzing Cell Phone Network Resilience in the US Virgin Islands," Master’s thesis, Department of Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, June 2020.
- Borgdorff A, "Measuring and modeling Potable Water Demand in the US Virgin Islands," Master’s thesis, Department of Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, June 2020.
- Wille D, Simulation Optimization for Operational Resilience of Interdependent Water-Power Systems in the US Virgin Islands. Master’s thesis, Department of Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, December 2019.
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Good J, An Operational Model of Food Supply Chain and Transportation Systems in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Master’s thesis, Department of Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, September 2019.
- Alderson DL, Bunn BB, Eisenberg DA, Howard AH, Nussbaum DE, Templeton JC, Interdependent Infrastructure Resilience in the U.S. Virgin Islands: Preliminary Assessment, Technical Report NPS-OR-18-005, NPS, December 2018.
- Bunn BB, An Operational Model of Interdependent Water and Power Distribution Infrastructure Systems, M.S. Thesis in Operations Research, NPS, Monterey, CA, September 2018.
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Presentations
- D. Eisenberg, D. Alderson, “Plan for Tomorrow: Infrastructure Risk and Resilience in the USVI,” 3rd USVI Hazard Mitigation and Resilience Workshop, 06 November 2020.
- D. Alderson, D. Eisenberg, “Understand Today: Critical Infrastructure Function and Vulnerability in the USVI,” 3rd USVI Hazard Mitigation and Resilience Workshop, 05 November 2020.
- Alderson DL, Eisenberg DA, Fed Partners Overview of NPS Operational Resilience Analysis and Recovery Support, Online, 4 September, 2020.
- Alderson DL, Eisenberg DA, Good JE, Wille D, Case Studies of Infrastructure Resilience in the VI, 2019 Hazard Mitigation and Resilience Workshop, St. Thomas, USVI; 12-13 September 2019.
- Eisenberg DA, Resilient Islands and Installations: Interdependent Infrastructure in the US Virgin Islands, Presentation at the Military Operations Research Society (MORS) 87th Symposium, US Air Force Academy, 17-20 June 2019.
- Good J, An Operational Model of the Critical Supply Chain for the US Virgin Islands, Presentation at the Military Operations Research Society (MORS) 87th Symposium, US Air Force Academy, 17-20 June 2019.
- Eisenberg DA, Operational Resilience of Water and Power Systems in the US Virgin Islands, Presentation at the 2018 INFORMS Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, 3-6 November 2018.
- Alderson DL, Operational Resilience Analysis and Capacity Building in the US Virgin Islands, Workshop: Fundamentals of Microgrid Analysis and Design Sandia National Laboratories & University of the Virgin Islands STX Campus (24 Oct 2018) & STT Campus (26 Oct 2018).
- Alderson DL, Assessing and Improving Operational Resilience, Presentation at the 2018 Hazard Mitigation and Resilience Workshop, University of the Virgin Islands, STT Campus, 14-15 June 2018.
Project Alumni
ENS Andrew Borgdorff, USN
MAJ Elad Bengigi, Israeli Defense Forces
LCDR Robert Routley, USN
LCDR Jeff Good, USN
CAPT William (Bill) Wine, USMC
LCDR Brendan Bunn, USN
MAJ Brian Moeller, USMC
Jack Templeton
Jacob Wigal