The Impact of Natural Disasters on Critical Infrastructures: A Domino Effect-based Study

Abstract

Recent events show a significant increase in the number of disasters with natural and/or technological causes, which could have potentially serious consequences for critical infrastructures. Were these infrastructures to fail or be destroyed, the resulting cascade effect (chain of accidents) could lead to catastrophic damage and affect not only the plants, but also people, the environment and the economy. This rise in the number of disasters over the years is due to industrial and human activity as well as society’s sensitivity to major events (hazards). The construction of industrial complexes brings with it stocks of hazardous substances, increased transport infrastructure (road, railways, shipping and pipelines), a rise in population and its concentration, malicious behavior and human error. This paper presents a methodology for carrying out risk assessments on critical infrastructure through the analysis of cascade effects. The proposed methodology can be used to provide critical infrastructures with greater protection and to limit/mitigate the extent of the damage caused by their failure. The paper ends with a conclusion and as series of proposal for improving such an analysis.

Critical infrastructure, panarchies and the vulnerability paths of cascading disasters

“…1, path (a). The usual interpretation of this is that an initial event sets of a chain of eventualities that, at some point, includes the ''top event'', or most disastrous consequence (Khan and Abbasi 2000;Kadri et al 2014). The principal assumption in this model is that there is a chain of weakness in which a linear sequence of events proceeds with unidirectional causality, and all eventualities or incidents are effects and the triggering event is the primary cause.…”

Big data managing in a landslide early warning system: experience from a ground-based interferometric radar application

“…Among the elements at risk, important communication routes, such as highways, can be classified as critical infrastructures (CIs), since their rupture can cause chain effects with catastrophic damages on society (Geertsema et al, 2009;Kadri et al, 2014). On the other hand, modern society is more and more dependent on CIs and their continuous efficiency (Lebaka et al, 2016), and this has increased their value over the years.…”

A research on subway physical vulnerability based on network theory and FMECA

“…The structure of subway system is very complex and it is composed of multitudes of physical components. It could provide various functions during its daily operation on basis of the stable operation of physical components, and all physical components should function synergistically and collaboratively to produce and distribute a continuous flow of services or products (Kadri et al, 2014). Therefore, there must be a direct mapping of relationships between physical components and functions.…”