Preface ix
Chapter 1 Why Do Disasters Happen? 1
Part One Man-Made Accidents 9
Chapter 2 Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse 11
Chapter 3 Nightmare in Bhopal 23
Chapter 4 Meltdown at Chernobyl 36
Chapter 5 Exxon Valdez 48
Chapter 6 Challenger and Columbia: Déjà Vu 64
Part Two Terrorist Acts 83
Chapter 7 Oklahoma City Bombing 85
Chapter 8 Aum Shinrikyo: Terror in Japan 97
Chapter 9 Attack on the USS Cole 113
Chapter 10 September 11: The World Trade Center 126
Chapter 11 London Transit Bombings 148
Part Three Natural Disasters 165
Chapter 12 Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald 167
Chapter 13 Eruption of Mount St. Helens 179
Chapter 14 South Canyon Fire 191
Chapter 15 Sumatra-Andaman Tsunami 203
Chapter 16 Hurricane Katrina 213
Part Four Success Stories 235
Chapter 17 United Airlines Flight 232 237
Chapter 18 Alaska Pipeline and Denali Quake 247
Chapter 19 Lessons Learned 258
Epilogue Where Do We Go From Here? 269
Index 273