RAPID/Collaborative Research: Integrated Sociotechnical Investigations of the Compounding Impacts of Maui Wildfires fueled by Hurricane Dora

This Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project collects ephemeral data to better understand the compounding impacts of Maui wildfires and Hurricane Dora and reveal the differences between residents and tourists in their behavioral responses as affected by infrastructure failures. It examines the sources of warning information, protective action decision-making, and evacuation logistics at the individual level.

In the meantime, the project captures the operation states of disaster warning operations in Maui under the loss of cell and electric power services. Failures at each system are documented, as well as the cascading effect among inter-connected infrastructure systems. The research outcomes expand the existing body of scientific knowledge on warning and evacuation while advancing the understanding of informal networks and decision-making in the absence of official guidance.

The hurricane-fueled fast-moving Maui wildfire offers a unique research opportunity to explore the intricacies of decision-making in the absence of official warnings. This event has three unique characteristics. First, Maui has a large percentage of tourists who may exhibit different patterns in warning reception, protective action decision-making, and evacuation logistics.

Second, none of the 80 warning sirens placed around the island were activated in response to the wildfire threat. Its absence, coupled with the loss of cell phone and power services, severely limited access to timely official warnings. Third, the cascading failures of critical infrastructure systems highlighted the interdependencies among them and the devastating consequences.

This project collects and analyzes multi-dimensional data on heterogeneous behavioral responses by residents and tourists with varying degrees of warning information, as well as the ways in which these responses were affected by critical infrastructure failures (i.e., damages/disruptions to transportation, power, and communication network interoperability). The rich datasets not only bolster future digital twin-empowered applications but also contribute to the enhancement of emergency management in cyber and physical domains.

In addition, the project engages and trains multiple Native Hawaiian students in data collection and analysis.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.