AN OPERATIONAL MODEL OF THE CRITICAL SUPPLY CHAIN FOR ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN

The purpose of this thesis is to assess the surface road transportation and supply chain network on the islands of St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Following two Category 5 hurricanes in 2017 that devastated the islands' road transportation network with mudslides and washouts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, and the USVI territorial government embarked on a mission to improve the resilience of the USVI's surface road transportation network. This thesis works in support of those agencies by (1) developing and curating a dataset of the surface road transportation and supply chain network for St. Thomas and St. John and (2) analyzing how the surface road transportation and supply chain network operates under normal, flooded, and worst-case conditions within a six-hour post-disaster curfew window. This analysis found that both islands' residents were able to reach critical supplies and return home within the six-hour window in normal and flooded conditions. However, under the worst-case scenario, both St. Thomas and St. John have residents who were unable to reach critical supplies within the curfew window. Additionally, St. John's port was cut off from the supply chain, rendering resupply of stores impossible.Lieutenant Commander, United States NavyApproved for public release. distribution is unlimite