Response to natural disasters like Harvey could be helped with game theory

Game theory is a powerful tool for the modelling and analysis of complex behaviours

The devastation by Hurricane Harvey continues, with the National Weather Service calling the event unprecedented, thus making the response even more complicated.

Nearly half a million people are expected to seek federal aid in the aftermath of the Category 4 hurricane, which already has dumped more than 30 inches on the Houston area.

While this horrible hurricane is extreme, the number of disasters has doubled globally since the 1980s, with the damage and losses estimated at an average US$100 billion a year since the new millennium, and