Disruption of emergency response to vulnerable populations during floods

Dapeng Yu (), Jie Yin (), Robert L. Wilby, Stuart N. Lane, Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, Ning Lin, Min Liu, Hongyong Yuan, Jianguo Chen, Christel Prudhomme, Mingfu Guan, Avinoam Baruch, Charlie W. D. Johnson, Xi Tang, Lizhong Yu and Shiyuan Xu
Additional contact information
Dapeng Yu: Loughborough University
Jie Yin: East China Normal University
Robert L. Wilby: Loughborough University
Stuart N. Lane: University of Lausanne
Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Ning Lin: Princeton University
Min Liu: East China Normal University
Hongyong Yuan: Tsinghua University
Jianguo Chen: Tsinghua University
Christel Prudhomme: Loughborough University
Mingfu Guan: The University of Hong Kong
Avinoam Baruch: Previsico
Charlie W. D. Johnson: Previsico
Xi Tang: East China Normal University
Lizhong Yu: East China Normal University
Shiyuan Xu: East China Normal University

Nature Sustainability, 2020, vol. 3, issue 9, 728-736

Abstract: Abstract Emergency responders must reach urgent cases within mandatory timeframes, regardless of weather conditions. However, flooding of transport networks can add critical minutes to travel times between dispatch and arrival. Here, we explicitly model the spatial coverage of all Ambulance Service and Fire and Rescue Service stations in England during flooding of varying severity under compliant response times. We show that even low-magnitude floods can lead to a reduction in national-level compliance with mandatory response times and this reduction can be even more dramatic in some urban agglomerations, making the effectiveness of the emergency response particularly sensitive to the expected impacts of future increases in extreme rainfall and flood risk. Underpinning this sensitivity are policies leading to the centralization of the Ambulance Service and the decentralization of the Fire and Rescue Service. The results provide opportunities to identify hotspots of vulnerability (such as care homes, sheltered accommodation, nurseries and schools) for optimizing the distribution of response stations and developing contingency plans for stranded sites.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-0516-7

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