Impacts of the 2001 World Trade Center Attack on New York City Critical Infrastructures

This study investigates impacts of the 2001 World Trade Center attack on critical infrastructure systems in the New York City metropolitan area. Of particular interest are the physical or logical connections—also known as interdependencies—among these systems, and the impacts of the attack on them. This study extends knowledge about the behavior of complex and interdependent infrastructures systems following a significant disruption. The results depict impact to all infrastructure systems as a result of the attack, with disruptions reported throughout the 3 month study period. Approximately 20% of these disruptions involved interdependencies, and a majority of infrastructure systems were involved in at least one interdependency. The results therefore suggest that interdependence is a pervasive condition of New York City’s critical infrastructures. Accordingly, approaches to planning for and managing infrastructure-related disruptions, particularly those involving interdependency, are discussed.

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