A Rule-Based Predictive Model for Estimating Human Impact Data in Natural Onset Disasters—The Case of a PRED Model

Abstract

Background: This paper proposes a framework to cope with the lack of data at the time of a disaster by employing predictive models. The framework can be used for disaster human impact assessment based on the socio-economic characteristics of the affected countries. Methods: A panel data of 4252 natural onset disasters between 1980 to 2020 is processed through concept drift phenomenon and rule-based classifiers, namely the Moving Average (MA). Results: Predictive model for Estimating Data (PRED) is developed as a decision-making platform based on the Disaster Severity Analysis (DSA) Technique. Conclusions: comparison with the real data shows that the platform can predict the human impact of a disaster (fatality, injured, homeless) with up to 3% error; thus, it is able to inform the selection of disaster relief partners for various disaster scenarios.

Keywords

• decision methods
• disaster response network
• disaster impact prediction
• disaster severity
• humanitarian aid network