When natural disasters strike locally, urban networks spread the damage globally
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200504114056.htm
In fact, a new study by researchers at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies finds that local economic impacts -- such as damage to factories and production facilities -- can trigger secondary impacts across the city's production and trade network. For the largest storms, they report, these impacts can account for as much as three-fourths of the total damage.
According to their findings, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, the extent of these secondary costs depends more on the structure of the production and supply networks for a particular city than on its geographic location. Regional cities that are dependent on their urban network for industrial supplies -- and that have access to relatively few suppliers -- are most vulnerable to these secondary impacts. Larger, global cities such as New York and Beijing, meanwhile, are more insulated from risks.