Analysis of disasters impacts and the relevant role of critical infrastructures for crisis management improvement

Purpose – Disasters are complex phenomena, by diverse nature and whose management is complicated. An efficient analysis of potential impacts that may result as consequence of a disaster has to be conducted to improve the preparation and response in face of future events. Design/methodology/approach – A review of impact evaluation methodologies and real disasters' impacts has been performed to develop an impact indicators' framework. Then, a questionnaire has been administered to critical infrastructure (CI) operators to identify CI dependencies and their consequences. Findings – A proper impact analysis improves learning about the consequences of a disaster and the way those impacts should be managed. Moreover, current impact evaluation methodologies do not make special focus on CIs even if their proper functioning is essential for society’s welfare. Crisis managers such as civil protection, emergency services and local authorities among others need to be aware of the importance of critical infrastructure s when managing a disaster. Also crisis managers and managers of CIs need to know how dependencies make impacts spread from one CI to others or to different sectors. Social implications – Through an efficient management, the development of preventive measures and response programs can help to mitigate impacts' harshness for CIs and for the whole society and may even prevent future disasters. However, if crisis managers and managers of CIs are unaware of disasters consequences, their management will result inefficient. Originality/value – A holistic and dynamic analysis of disaster impacts has been performed. The integration of impact indicators together with their behaviour over time analysis will help improving future crises management.