III. HUMAN-RELATED HAZARDS The following list summarizes the significant human-related hazards covered in this section: 1. Catastrophic Incidents (National Emergencies) 2. Civil Disturbances 3. Nuclear Attack 4. Public Health Emergencies 5. Terrorism and Similar Criminal Activities These hazards all tie in with each other in various ways, and by placing them all in the same section of this document, this updated 2014 edition of the Michigan Hazard Mitigation Plan intends to make it easier for planners and emergency management personnel to learn about and consider the many aspects of these threats, risks, activities, conditions, and incidents. The new hazard section, Catastrophic Incidents (National Emergencies), was primarily inspired by some of the states of alert and response activities that Michigan had to adopt in the past decade for incidents that primarily took place outside of its own borders. The main examples were the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks (and subsequent anthrax incidents and threats), and the Gulf Coast disaster involving Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. It makes sense to consider, in advance, these types of incidents as well as other types of large-scale disasters that could occur in the future, which require a large-scale national response even though the actual incident itself may occur only within the borders of a few states outside of Michigan’s immediate environment. Preparedness, planning, exercising, and mutual aid arrangements are the main “mitigation” activities proposed for this hazard during its initial phase of consideration in this 2014 edition of the Michigan Hazard Mitigation Plan. Some catastrophic incidents may involve other types of human-related hazards. Some of the possibilities that led to the addition of this hazard as a new section include recent considerations of a major pandemic, terrorist attack, or nuclear strike—all of which are covered in more detail in subsections herein. Although civil disturbances are usually handled at the level of local or state governments alone, some types of unrest may be related to broader patterns of criminal activities, or even terrorism. The civil disturbance hazard has been given broader treatment, to shift farther beyond the emphasis on prisons that had been a part of its original concept in earlier state planning documents. Although prison disturbances are still considered a hazard, several additional types of incident have been more extensively discussed and compared. Although consideration was given to a type of civil disturbance that could be called “disruption,” it was decided that such a concept was already partially covered by the discussion of catastrophic incidents and other hazards. “Disruption” would have described human collective responses to large-scale catastrophes, such as warfare, widespread conflict, or disasters, that disrupt ordinary lifestyles and force people to cope using relatively spontaneous or grassroots activities to provide for social needs. There were few examples that were clearly relevant to today’s contemporary circumstances, however, except for those already suggested in other sections, and so the idea was not included as a full consideration within this edition. Consideration was also given to economic and criminal problems, but these were not considered relevant enough to an emergency management planning perspective to include. Emergency management deals with recognized disasters and emergency events, rather than social problems more broadly, and therefore throughout this plan decisions had to be made about where the line might be drawn between specific disaster/emergency events and circumstances that are ongoing social, economic, political, and environmental issues in any society. Although warfare and other types of conventional military attack were not given specific treatment here, the nuclear attack hazard has been retained, yet almost entirely rewritten to reflect post-Cold War geopolitical circumstances. In addition, a greater connection is now exhibited between the nuclear attack hazard and that of terrorism. Public health emergencies have taken on new importance recently, with the rise in concern about 427 Human-Related Hazards – Introduction global pandemic illnesses. Travel is so rapid and widespread today that quickly detecting and containing outbreaks of serious, even lethal, contagious diseases has been considered necessary and given higher priority by numerous levels of government, and their partnering agencies. Terrorism is one of the potential causes of widespread threats to public health, as well as nuclear attack and certain types of civil disturbances. The terrorism and similar criminal activities section has also been almost entirely rewritten in this 2012 edition of the Michigan Hazard Analysis, to reflect more recent knowledge about the involved topics. In many cases, it may not be immediately clear whether an incident was motivated by political causes, some other form of protest, criminal enterprises, or personal neurosis. A bomb blast event, for example, may have its origin in a hostile terrorist group, a riotous uprising, a murderous act involving organized crime, or the misguided activity of a mentally unbalanced individual. The act itself, and its effects, might constitute an emergency event regardless of the reasons that caused it to happen. In many cases, the determination of who organized such a bombing, and why, may take weeks of subsequent investigation, and may place the event (after the fact) within different hazard classifications, as they have been presented here. For that reason, it is recommended that the human-related hazards be studied together. At the very least, the civil disturbances and terrorism sections should be studied together, and those who are interested in terrorism should also give consideration to the nuclear attack and public health emergencies that can be caused by terrorist attacks. During certain historical times and places, it might seem to make sense to include large-scale or widespread criminal activities as a type of hazard in itself. Gang warfare can certainly impose a serious toll upon the health and safety of an area, for example, and such enterprises may be used to raise funds for international terrorist activities. At this time, however, it was decided not to include large-scale organized crime as a specific type of hazard in this analysis, except where the purpose of that crime relates to terrorist activities (rather than the profit- oriented activities that are typical of criminal enterprises). Organized crime exists to try to make its participants wealthy, but terrorism aims to cause specifically destructive effects upon society—usually without any expectation or desire for personal profit or wealth or the part of the perpetrator(s). Dedicated law enforcement resources already exist specifically to combat crime of various types, and these ongoing activities usually do not involve emergency management personnel, declarations of disaster, or the type of public involvement and planning used for the mitigation of natural disasters and other-types of potentially large-scale hazards. Overlap Between Human-Related Hazards and Other Sections of the Hazard Analysis Terrorist and nuclear attack events can cause widespread infrastructure failures, hazardous materials incidents, transportation accidents, energy emergencies, nuclear power plant emergencies, structural fires, and oil/gas pipeline failures. Therefore, there is extensive overlap with the Technological Hazard sections. It is also possible that terrorist and nuclear attack events may cause dam failures and flooding, as well as wildfire events—two of the hazards that are addressed in Natural Hazards sections in this document. In a reverse direction of causality, various natural and technological hazards may be expected to cause significant public health concerns. These include weather hazards such as extreme temperatures, hydrological hazards such as flooding and drought (both of which may affect the quality of drinking water in an area, as well as exacerbate the risks of contagious illness and food quality/contamination), and the ecological hazard of wildfires. Any disaster that can cause widespread homelessness and power failures may have a serious impact upon public health. Similarly, various types of incidents involving hazardous materials (including radiological incidents) may affect public health. Disasters with an extensive impact upon the environment may involve contamination that is a threat to public health. With regard to natural or technological events that may cause violent incidents, the most probable circumstances may involve civil disturbances in reaction to other emergency or disaster circumstances, if overwhelming to or poorly handled by responders or government agencies. There are very few historical records of such incidents escalating to the point of a civil disturbance emergency in Michigan, and even then, the connection between natural and technological hazards and such disturbances has tended to be indirect and open to alternative interpretations. Most civil disturbance events have been rooted in other human circumstances. One of the 428 Human-Related Hazards – Introduction exceptions involves the potential for widespread infrastructure failures to develop into circumstances in which local citizens and police must take extra precautions against criminal activity such as looting. With a large enough event or over a long period of time, such conflicts may cause certain