Infrastructure and Disasters the Twenty-First

¶ … Infrastructure and Disasters

The twenty-first century brought with it some challenging disasters; manmade, technological, and natural. These disasters, among others, are most reflected or associated in the minds of the public with Hurricane Katrina, and its devastating affects on the Gulf region and, most notably, the City of New Orleans. There was, too, the technological "blackout" of much of the eastern seaboard in 2003, when circuits overloaded and crashed, leaving millions of people without electricity during one of the worst heat waves of the summer. Then, in 2001, what has perhaps become the most visible and lasting disaster, a manmade one, when the events of September 11, 2001, unfolded in New York City, Washington, D.C., and in a rural field in Pennsylvania. Each of these events tested and tried the existing infrastructures of the places where the events took place. This paper examines the response of infrastructure to event, and whether or not American infrastructures have improved and are better prepared to deal with these kinds of events today.

It is perhaps the saddest of the events discussed here, because the events were within the decisive control of mankind to prevent them from ever having occurred. However, the choice was made by a few to carry out the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, and the actions of but a few, affected so many and continues to do so today.

Looking at the events of September 11, 2001, beginning in New York City; two commercial jetliners bound for destinations outside of New York were commandeered by terrorists, who then turned those passenger jets into flying weapons of mass destruction. Two planes hit the north and south towers of the World Trade Center, igniting jet fueled fires that completely destroyed both towers.

Brian J. Godfrey adds some perspective to the tragedy. He says, "In addition to the carnage of nearly 3,000 lost lives, the World Trade Center attacks destroyed or severely damaged nearly 30 million square feet of office and retail space in Lower Manhattan, forcing 100,000 of the area's workers to relocate to other areas. The crippled public transportation infrastructure, which will take years to rebuild, put the Financial District's remaining 270,000 jobs at risk. New York City's economy stands to lose roughly $83 billion and 57,000 jobs over three years, according to an economic impact analysis by the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce (NYCP 2001). As the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation debates various proposals for rebuilding "Ground Zero," it serves us well to ponder the historical geography of America's largest city.

The New York City infrastructure - fire department, police department, emergency ambulances, area hospitals, airports, department of transportation, the FAA responded, but response on the part of each of the vital components of the infrastructure were varied; although no response could have prevented the disaster.

The NYFD and NYPD as first responders were the components of infrastructure most affected. Although the firefighters and police followed training procedures and protocol, there was no way they could have had all the information necessary to act in a way of informed response.

Today, the city continues to recover from the attacks of September 11, 2001; but there is simply no way to prepare for manmade disasters of this magnitude. The most notable response to the disaster is that airports across the country have instituted security measures - which are still being tested and improved upon - to ensure the safety of airline passengers, and to ensure that commercial passenger jets cannot again be used as weapons against America.

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina demonstrated how poorly prepared the infrastructure of Louisiana and the Federal Government is to contend with major natural disasters. In New Orleans, officials of the city and state failed to react to information that clearly suggested, even warned, that a hurricane the magnitude of Katrina would spell disaster for the city's deteriorating levy system (National Geographic 2000). What could not be predicted was that the city's infrastructure would so miserably fail the people of New Orleans.

As images of looting and stranded citizens filled the airways, taken from news helicopters, the city's police force had virtually abandoned their posts, and some were accused of participating in the looting that followed the disaster there was something noticeably missing in the images; there were no police rescues, no Red Cross, no fire department rescue teams and no National Guard. Journalist John McQuaid described it this way:

But Katrina was much more than a natural event; human hands played a role in the damage and in the storm's equally disastrous aftermath. Katrina exposed deep institutional flaws in the nation's emergency response, supposedly upgraded following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It easily overwhelmed the federal levee system, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, that protected New Orleans and its nearby suburbs; investigations showed afterward the system was considerably weaker than the Corps had claimed and that serious engineering errors had been made in its construction. Katrina also dealt a serious blow to the standing of President George W. Bush, who had staked his presidency on his ability to protect the citizenry, yet seemed unable to muster a robust response to the storm. (McQuaid 213)."

Volumes can be written about the inadequacy of response to Katrina by city, state, federal officials and even the Red Cross. It is perhaps the worst example of America's inability to cope with disaster.

2003 Blackout

In August of 2003, it was revealed the extent to which mankind had both become dependent upon technology, and was, at the same time, at the mercy of technological mechanisms controlling our lives.