Optimal strategies to control human behaviors during a catastrophic event

In a world the more and more affected by sudden, unpredictable natural and/or industrial disasters, with few or without warning signs, it is essential to understand, analyze and control population behaviors during such events.

Our objective is to model and investigate the actions that can be deployed by operational staff during catastrophic events in order to optimize risk management, reduce panic and save lives. For this purpose, we propose and solve an optimal control problem by using Pontryagin's Maximum Principle. Finally, we determine the best control strategy in the realistic scenario of a tsunami on the French Riviera.