Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion in Lafayette, Indiana

In the past few days, I came across an article discussing Jetstream aerospace. Jetstream aerospace is an international company involved in manufacturing and designing products that are used in aviation both locally and internationally. The organization had a challenge with its aftermarket services which included repairing aircraft when they broke down for their customers. The issue was that the company was not able to serve its customers promptly and hence this led to complications such as being under threat of losing customers trust as well as ruining their reputation in the market. Due to their delays, customers who were loyal to the organization made significant loses because the planes and jets could not transport the clients and cargos. Also, the amount of revenue earned through transportation dropped due to technical delays. This led to the CEO of the company holding a meeting with the managers to discuss the solution of the problems. Several ideas were put across some of which included setting a specific location in Amsterdam near an airport where this services can be centrally be provided (Steenhuis, 2015). The other one included hiring another organization to cheep in on behalf of Jetstream and do the repairs. This was more viable even though it was proposed by one manager. The organization implemented this idea to facilitate their customers observe the transportation regulations by ensuring that the planes are fit to fly and in a good or scheduled time. Currently, speed is crucial than money to some clients, and hence transport organizations should be reliable to their customers.

Lafayette Indiana Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion

The event that contributed to the gas leak was a perforation of a pipeline by a construction company as they were installing a signal sign. Ideally, as they were digging up the hole where the signal was to be placed, they came across a four-inch-high pipe with gas and accidentally hit it with a digging tool. The incident leads to the gas leaking more in the ground than in the surface. Failure to understand this, the responsible personnel to deal with such situations did not act with the urgency that the situation required. The concentration of the gas in the ground lead to the creation of pressure and hence the explosion.

Impact to the city

The city was apparently very tensed because people lost lives that day and other was severely injured. Also, they did not know for sure if the leakage was fixed correctly and whether such event will recur. Therefore, due to the situation, people abandoned daily businesses and went out of the city or to places far from explosion site in search of safety. Stores were not opened up for some days after, and hence several companies profits were stagnated, and others suffered great losses due to products spoiling as a result of lack of customers (Ho Oh, Deshmukh, & Hastak, 2010). The companies and other small-scale businesses that suffered a significant loss were the ones dealing with perishable goods. Transport systems in the city also suffered a lot because people did not travel much in the cause of few days after the event. The gas leakage and the smoke from the explosion also polluted the environment. People in the nearby region did not inhale the air freely due to the gas.

The city had to use almost all the resources available to deal with the disaster, and hence a lot of funds were incurred in the evacuation as well as rescue missions in the scene of the explosion. Also, the leaders in the city had to convince the people that the place was safe to stay after the explosion and therefore they had to purchase new emergency vehicles and tools as well as beefing up security within the area. The city also had few number of people wanting to invest in the region because most investors feared the recurrence of the incidence. Also, the value of land and property (houses) depreciated as people were more willing to sell and evacuate the area.

Lesson learned

No incidence is routine. The authority in the region, as well as any other individuals who have watched the video or read about the case, can justify this lesson. Therefore, it is appropriate for anybody involved in a rescue team to expect the worst so that to be able to deal with any situation that might arise. Thus, it is appropriate to plan for the unexpected as the authorities in the region have been doing lately. The process of assessing gas leakage since the incident have changed, and currently, they usually gear up utterly such that they can deal with any case when leakage is spotted or suspected. The other thing is that the organization has embraced proactive training and hence they rely on the instincts and all the skills they have learned concerning dealing with different situations. The security and the organization also have learned about the relevance of having an advanced partnership where they can collaborate and deal with different situations on the ground to avoid recurrence of explosions. Thus, the communication between them has improved such that they understand each other well and do what is necessary.

References

Ho Oh, E., Deshmukh, A., & Hastak, M. (2010). Disaster impact analysis based on inter-relationship of critical infrastructure and associated industries: a winter flood disaster event. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 1(1), 25-49.

Steenhuis, H. J. (2015). 2 Regional aircraft. The Global Commercial Aviation Industry, 33.