18 Bridging the Vulnerability Paradigm to Critical Infrastructure …
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caused power outages to millions of people in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Additionally, much of the difficulty in recovering from the impact of Hurricane Sandy
was also related to the winter storm that hit the northeastern coast of the U.S. From
November 7 to 10, the northeastern coast of the U.S. was again dealing with damaging
winds and coastal flooding. This concomitance of extreme weather conditions is
becoming the “new normal”, and it brings to light the 2017 and 2018 disaster series
issues. Between 2017 and 2018, the severity of wildfires and the hyperactive Atlantic
hurricane season revealed unexpected cascading failures of CI and drawbacks of
our over-reliance on national forces and top-down procedures to reestablish normal
activities after disasters happen. Our current disaster response models are also facing
unprecedented workforce challenges.
18.3 The 2017–2018 Hurricane and Wildfire Disaster
Seasons and the Escalating Failures From CI Fuel
Commodities to Emergency Response Services
“Unsurprising surprises” has been a distressing theme of high frequency recordbreaking extreme weather events in the last few years. The “new normal” that climate
change projections are addressing is not related to a new type of stasis, but it represents
the increase in the velocity of climate variability. A recent study focused on California
climate (Swain et al. 2018) presents trends of rapid transition from record multi-year
dryness to extreme wetness. Projections indicate not merely an increase in frequency
and intensity of these extremes but also the velocity of the variability between extreme
dry and extreme wet climates.
On the extreme dry spectrum, the 2017 wildfire season was at the time the
costliest and most destructive recorded in California (CalFire 2018a) followed by
the prolonged 2018 wildfire season which surpassed national records in structure
destruction and fatality. In December 2017, the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa
Barbara, burned nearly 282 thousand acres, considered then, the largest wildfire in
California (CalFire 2018b). Half a year later, the July 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire
had almost doubled the Thomas Fire burned areal mark. In October 2017, Tubbs fire in
Napa and Sonoma caused an unprecedented destruction of 5,636 structures (CalFire
2018c). A year later, the November 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, destroyed
18,804 structures (CalFire 2018d), becoming the most destructive wildfire in the
U.S and also the deadliest, with 85 fatalities and 3 missing people.
On the extreme wet spectrum, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season formed 17
tropical storms out of which ten evolved into hurricanes. This categorized 2017 as
a hyperactive hurricane year with the greatest number of consecutive hurricanes in
335
caused power outages to millions of people in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Additionally, much of the difficulty in recovering from the impact of Hurricane Sandy
was also related to the winter storm that hit the northeastern coast of the U.S. From
November 7 to 10, the northeastern coast of the U.S. was again dealing with damaging
winds and coastal flooding. This concomitance of extreme weather conditions is
becoming the “new normal”, and it brings to light the 2017 and 2018 disaster series
issues. Between 2017 and 2018, the severity of wildfires and the hyperactive Atlantic
hurricane season revealed unexpected cascading failures of CI and drawbacks of
our over-reliance on national forces and top-down procedures to reestablish normal
activities after disasters happen. Our current disaster response models are also facing
unprecedented workforce challenges.
18.3 The 2017–2018 Hurricane and Wildfire Disaster
Seasons and the Escalating Failures From CI Fuel
Commodities to Emergency Response Services
“Unsurprising surprises” has been a distressing theme of high frequency recordbreaking extreme weather events in the last few years. The “new normal” that climate
change projections are addressing is not related to a new type of stasis, but it represents
the increase in the velocity of climate variability. A recent study focused on California
climate (Swain et al. 2018) presents trends of rapid transition from record multi-year
dryness to extreme wetness. Projections indicate not merely an increase in frequency
and intensity of these extremes but also the velocity of the variability between extreme
dry and extreme wet climates.
On the extreme dry spectrum, the 2017 wildfire season was at the time the
costliest and most destructive recorded in California (CalFire 2018a) followed by
the prolonged 2018 wildfire season which surpassed national records in structure
destruction and fatality. In December 2017, the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa
Barbara, burned nearly 282 thousand acres, considered then, the largest wildfire in
California (CalFire 2018b). Half a year later, the July 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire
had almost doubled the Thomas Fire burned areal mark. In October 2017, Tubbs fire in
Napa and Sonoma caused an unprecedented destruction of 5,636 structures (CalFire
2018c). A year later, the November 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, destroyed
18,804 structures (CalFire 2018d), becoming the most destructive wildfire in the
U.S and also the deadliest, with 85 fatalities and 3 missing people.
On the extreme wet spectrum, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season formed 17
tropical storms out of which ten evolved into hurricanes. This categorized 2017 as
a hyperactive hurricane year with the greatest number of consecutive hurricanes in