Exploiting smart city IoT for disaster recovery operations

Disaster recovery operations are extremely challenging and place significant demands on multiple resources, including local and international emergency response personnel, non-governmental organizations, and the military. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, one of the most pressing requirements is for situational awareness (SA) so that resources, including personnel and supplies, may be prioritized to have the most impact and help those in the most need. As the recovery operations continue, the SA needs to be continuously updated based on changing conditions in the affected areas. There are many sources of information to provide situational awareness, including reporting by the victims of the disaster as well as observations made by responding personnel. This SA can be significantly enhanced via information obtained from Internet of Things (IoT) devices, especially in a smart city environment. This paper explores the potential to exploit Smart City IoT capabilities to help with disaster recovery operations.