A new classification model of disasters based on their logistics implications

This paper aims to clarify the concept of disaster from a humanitarian logistics perspective. To this end, a disaster is defined on the basis of two criteria: the destructive impact and a call for international assistance. Then, the paper examines the typology of disasters commonly used in the humanitarian logistics literature and establishes that this classification focuses on physical phenomena rather than on dimensions that reflect the logistics implications. From this, a new disaster classification model is developed based on generic characteristics of disasters (over time and space) and on five situational factors reflecting the influence of the external environment. Whilst the generic characteristics of disasters generate similarities in the logistics requirements, the external situational factors account for the uniqueness of each disaster. Therefore, it is argued that the characteristics of the disaster itself cannot be dissociated from the disaster’s external environment.