A stochastic programming model for tactical product prepositioning at domestic hunger relief organizations impacted by natural hazards

Disaster response involves the planning, coordination, and distribution of supplies in an effective manner to people in need. Recent natural hazards, such as hurricane Harvey, have exposed the complexities and challenges associated with those tasks. In this paper, a stochastic programming model is presented which considers prepositioning strategies among food bank facilities located in high-risks areas for hurricanes. The model considers the uncertainty associated with the impact of the hurricane at each facility in terms of the number of available supplies, donations received at the facility, and the expected demand for their service region. The first-stage decision attempts to minimize the number of people not receiving the needed supplies by prepositioning the existing supplies at each facility. Second-stage decisions maximize the system responsiveness by trying to satisfy the observed demand for the scenarios under consideration. The experiments consider scenarios in which one or two food bank facilities are shut down after the natural phenomenon and study the impact of prepositioning supplies.

Automated summary

This paper introduces a stochastic programming model considering prepositioning strategies among food bank facilities in high-risk areas to minimize the number of people not receiving needed supplies during natural disasters. The model takes into account the uncertainty associated with each facility's supplies, donations, and demand, as well as the impact of facility closures post-disaster on prepositioned supplies.