When disaster strikes, leaders who defend the nation’s critical infrastructure and people living through disruption must have security plans at the ready. While crews work as fast as possible to get critical infrastructure back online, time is of the essence for business owners and those waiting at home for their utilities. Without access to power, water, or the other daily necessities people need, it’s an unfortunate reality that they become potential targets for bad actors.
From looters casing dark retail stores and evacuees’ homes to thieves stealing emergency equipment and construction materials necessary for recovery efforts, it’s important to take stock of security measures to prepare for—and prevent—the worst in a natural disaster.
Storms arrive early and more often
As Hurricane Beryl, the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2024 season, ripped across the Caribbean, it shredded roads, toppled trees, ravaged downtown storefronts, and deluged entire neighborhoods. It rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm, long before the traditional start of the hurricane season.
California appeared to flip the weather switch in just a few weeks, tackling spring storms in early May and battling a full-on fire season by the end of June. With more than 106,000 acres already burned in 2024, including the Post Fire in Los Angeles County, the Sites Fire in Northern California, and the Fresno June Lightning Complex Fire, the current tally surpasses the state’s first six-month burned area totals in fire records going back to 1972.
“In California, 85 percent of the burned area happens after July 1st,” John Abatzoglou, a climatologist and wildfire expert at the University of California at Merced, told The Washington Post.
While large and devastating wildfires have ignited acres of land across the United States this year, even in previously considered low-risk areas, like rainforests and wetlands, other natural disasters loom. The 2024 tornado season is shaping up to be the most active since 2017, floods are wreaking havoc, and derechos are pelting the Great Plains with CD-sized hail and hurricane-force winds.
These increasing weather emergencies make it imperative for leaders to consider the present climate conditions instead of planning for the disasters of the past. Our economy, public safety, and way of life depend on more than officials’ astute planning. To protect the United States’ critical infrastructure, from power grids to transportation networks and water systems to telecommunications, it’s imperative security plans are proven and ready. This requires approved, dedicated emergency resources and personnel in place—and at the ready—to ensure flawless execution when every minute counts.
Extreme weather affects all infrastructure
Natural disasters and extreme weather events pose considerable threats to the 16 critical infrastructure sectors, demonstrating an increasing need to improve resiliency. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency outlines how weather events impact infrastructure:
- Extended Droughts - Droughts occur more often and their severity can impact the transportation, energy, and water sectors for millions of Americans.
- Extreme Heat - As millions discovered this summer, heat events can damage transportation and lead to power outages, which threatens public health.
- Wildfires - Fires don’t just impact water supply; they can also disrupt transportation, communications, and power and gas services.
- Sea Level Rise - Coastal-facing infrastructure networks are located in 23 of the 25 most densely populated and rapidly growing U.S. counties. Intense storms cause prolonged disruption from saltwater contamination to power grid failures.
Weather, wildfires, and solar storms are the top reasons for power outages in the United States, with devastating effects for Americans. When Oregon endured a bad wildfire season, the Oregonian reported that 50,000 residents lost power. Four years later, a winter storm took out power for more than 200,000 in the state. Winter weather wreaks havoc for residents in Tennessee, where 260,000 people lost power in 2021, and 132,000 were in the dark after a 2022 storm.
Consider all the angles that could prevent help when needed most
Security plans, as well as continuity of operations plans (COOP), to protect our nation’s most vital assets must include the consideration of, and dedicated action, to thwart thieves who strike at vulnerable assets.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and Golden State Water Co. officials are investigating the theft of more than 300 fire hydrants since the start of the year. The city also faces other thefts of infrastructure, including street lamps and electric vehicle charging stations that are likely being sold as scrap metal.
The thefts pose a significant threat to public safety, especially as municipalities are strapped by budgetary concerns.
“Fire hydrants are crucial in providing a reliable water source for firefighting operations, and their absence can hamper rescue efforts and lead to delays extinguishing fires,” the L.A. County Fire Department said in a statement to The Los Angeles Times.
Selling scrap metal is becoming a more common endeavor for thieves, especially as copper prices have surged 20 percent this year, hitting a record high in May 2024. As demand increases for copper wire, used for everything from EVs and their charging stations to power lines, highways and airport runways, thieves are turning the natural transitional metal into one that is as precious as gold.
Crimes of opportunity are more common, but preparation for all scenarios necessary
While these are examples of brazen thefts that can cripple critical infrastructure during normal conditions, security leaders know far too well that criminals capitalize on crimes of opportunity when law enforcement is stretched thin during a crisis. It’s more common for thieves to target homes and businesses, as demonstrated by criminals in Houston after Hurricane Harvey and opportunists across Florida after Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Idalia.
It’s imperative to establish perimeters in the hours, days, and weeks after a natural disaster strikes to enable responding agencies to maintain necessary levels of surveillance and security in the event of a disruption of primary systems.
And it’s not just businesses or critical infrastructure locations that are targets. In Grants Pass, Oregon, thieves broke into U.S. Forest Service trucks parked in a hotel parking lot and stole crucial firefighting equipment while responders were sleeping for the first time in days. According to police reports, thieves prioritized their wants over the needs of emergency personnel and local residents by making off with Hotshot backpacks, emergency fire shelters, headlamps, compasses, firing sticks, signal mirrors, first aid kits, water bottles, and two STIHL chainsaws.
After Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico in 2017, the island’s government stored unused emergency supplies in a warehouse. In the aftermath of a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that rocked the territory in 2020, desperate residents broke into the facility to distribute water, cots, and other necessities. While this breakdown isn’t a true example of safeguarding critical infrastructure, delivering humanitarian supplies like clean water during a national emergency counts. This story illustrates how proper security plans must encompass logistics, storage, and distribution in times of crisis.
Natural disasters provide cover
Securing critical infrastructure is a topic of concern and natural disasters can provide cover for thieves. A 2023 assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation highlighted an increase in security incidents impacting electric infrastructure, including ballistic attacks, vandalism, intrusions, and theft. The research reported that threats are made and carried out by both foreign nations and domestic extremists.
“Our nation’s critical infrastructure entities—from schools to hospitals to water facilities—must have the tools and resources to respond to and recover from disruption,” said Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly in a press release. “By taking steps today to prepare for incidents, critical infrastructure, communities, and individuals can be better prepared to recover from the impact of the threats of tomorrow and into the future.”
Deter and defend with collaboration with private-sector companies
Protecting our nation’s most vital assets is not only a concern for the federal government. Creating robust and comprehensive security strategies with mission-specific programmatic capabilities for detection, prevention, mitigation, protection, and coordinated rapid response requires a collaborative approach that involves state and local agencies, partners in the private sector, and community leaders.
By prioritizing investments in infrastructure security and embracing innovation, we can not only defend against thieves, but also build a more resilient, safer, and secure future for all.
