ABSTRACT
Natural and technological disasters are both sudden and powerful. Whilst there is sometimes an element of warning in natural disaster (even though it may be ignored), there is generally none in technological catastrophe. There may only be seconds from the realisation that something is wrong to the impact, or lack of warning may make avoidance difficult. There may be awareness that a particular structure is inadequate for its purpose, or inadequate under certain extremes, such as the Buffalo Creek dam, which burst in 1972 with tragic consequences to the Appalachian communities in its wake, yet the population at risk is kept in ignorance. Alternatively, a system may be known to have failed, yet no remedial action is taken, and those at risk remain unaware of the danger. Thus prior to the Zeebrugge disaster, ferries had been reported as sailing with their bow doors open.
