David Alexander: 'A Framework for Understanding Cascading Disasters...'

ABSTRACT: We live in a networked society and depend to a high degree upon critical infrastructure to sustain our lives and activities. Disruption of the networks and infrastructure can lead to cascading consequences. Indeed, most disasters in the modern world will be cascading events to a greater or lesser degree. In the cascades, there are likely to be escalation points, at which the interaction of different kinds of vulnerability creates secondary, renewed or enhanced impacts. This presentation reviews the theory behind the concept of cascading disasters and judges its applicability to disaster problems in the field. It offers a framework for interpreting cascades and linking them to causal theories of disaster. Examples are used to illustrate the concepts presented. They include the Grenfell Tower fire of 2017 in London, the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear release of 2011 in Japan, and various aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic, an event that has many lessons to offer the field of disaster planning, management and response. WEBLINK: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/news-and-ev...