Date of Award
December 2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Civil Engineering
Committee Member
Pamela Marie Murray-Tuite
Committee Member
Jennifer H. Ogle
Committee Member
Wayne A. Sarasua
Committee Member
Abdul A. Khan
Abstract
This dissertation investigates households’ evacuation decision, number of household vehicles used in evacuation, and departure timing from Hurricane Matthew. Regarding the evacuation decision, this dissertation takes a step further by presenting three level evacuation decision models that include full, partial, and no evacuation alternatives rather than the binary evacuate/stay decision. Multinomial (MNL) regression and random parameter MNL techniques were utilized to develop the prediction models. Results showed that some of the variables which affect the evacuate/stay decision have different influences on the three alternatives. The preferred MNL model was tested for random parameters and one random parameter (age of the respondent) was identified for the utility expression pertaining to the no evacuation alternative.
For the vehicle choice study, zero truncated Poisson regression was utilized with the survey data. This modeling approach has rarely been applied to the evacuation context and the prediction of the number of household vehicles used is relatively understudied, compared to other evacuation-related decisions. The final preferred model contains three significant variables (marital status, gender, and evacuation timing from 6 am to noon).
The final part of this dissertation investigates the factors affecting departure timing choice. Having an accurate estimate of the departure time will allow the prediction of dynamic evacuation demand and developing effective evacuation strategies which will enhance the overall evacuation planning and management. A Cox proportional-hazards model was utilized to model the evacuation departure timing. Four significant variables were identified in the final model, two of them are related to uncertainty. This part of the dissertation also studies evacuees’ stated preference about whether or not they would change their evacuation timing if they relived the hurricane event. In our study, almost 34% of respondents reported that they would change their departure timing if they relived the hurricane event. A binary logit model was utilized in this part and the preferred model contains five significant variables related to past experience, the type of evacuation order received, and the evacuation destination.
Recommended Citation
Alawadi, Roa'a Jaber Mohammad, "Modeling of Household Evacuation Decision, Departure Timing, and Number of Evacuating Vehicles from Hurricane Matthew" (2019). All Dissertations. 2522.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2522