POST # 11 -- When a Normal Day Turns (Part 2): 10 Real‑World Manmade Events That Became Crises
- kmcvadon
- Feb 16
- 4 min read
Not every crisis comes from nature.
Some begin with human error, system failures, technological dependence, political unrest, or deliberate violence — and they unfold just as quickly and unpredictably as any hurricane or wildfire.
These events were not “unimaginable.”
They were unexpected manmade disruptions — industrial accidents, reliance on fragile technology, power outages, violent political protest, civil unrest, and terrorist attacks — that rapidly evolved into life‑threatening situations for everyday people.
One of the core responsibilities of a Naval Special Warfare SEAL officer is mission planning, and that includes contingency planning. As a young SEAL officer, I learned quickly that you don’t improvise your way out of a crisis — you fall back on your training, your rehearsals, and the contingencies you built as pre‑determined plans of action. From the outside it may look improvised, but it’s really trained adaptability built on solid planning.
The same applies to civilians.
Regular folks can build that same adaptable capability — it simply begins with thinking ahead and putting a few basic plans in place. When the unthinkable happens, people fall back on whatever capability they already have. If you’ve never trained, never “what‑if’ed” scenarios, and never built even basic resiliency, you’re at a significant disadvantage the moment the world shifts.
Below are ten real‑world manmade events that show how fast an ordinary day can become a crisis.
1. East Palestine Train Derailment — Toxic Chemical Release
February 3, 2023 – East Palestine, Ohio
A freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed, causing fires, toxic smoke, and long‑term contamination concerns.
Impact: Thousands evacuated; long‑term health and environmental risks.
Ordinary day → chaos: Residents in a quiet town woke up to toxic fumes and near-immediate mandatory evacuations.
2. Washington State “Wrong Turn” GPS Stranding
February 2024 – Washington State
A family followed a GPS detour onto a remote mountain road, became stuck in deep snow, and was stranded for days. The father died attempting to walk out for help.
Impact: 1 death; family rescued after days of exposure.
Ordinary day → chaos: Blind reliance on technology turned a simple detour into a fatal survival situation.
3. New York City Blackout — Urban Infrastructure Failure
July 13, 2019 – Manhattan, NYC
A major power failure shut down parts of Manhattan for hours, stranding thousands and forcing commuters to walk miles home.
Impact: Widespread disruption, medical emergencies, transportation paralysis.
Ordinary day → chaos: A normal Saturday evening became a citywide gridlock with elevators, subways, and traffic lights offline.
4. Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack — Fuel Shortages
May 7–12, 2021 – Eastern United States
A ransomware attack shut down the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S., triggering panic buying, shortages, and widespread disruption across multiple states.
Impact: Fuel outages, economic disruption, cascading supply‑chain effects.
Ordinary day → chaos: A cyberattack on a single company rippled into a regional crisis within hours.
5. Texas Power Grid Failure — Infrastructure Vulnerability
February 2021 – Texas, USA
A severe winter storm exposed vulnerabilities in the Texas power grid, causing days‑long outages, water failures, and widespread hardship.
Impact: 240+ deaths; millions without power or heat.
Ordinary day → chaos: Modern homes became uninhabitable as infrastructure collapsed under stress.
6. George Floyd / BLM Riots — Civil Unrest
May–June 2020 – Multiple U.S. Cities
Protests escalated into riots in several cities, leading to fires, injuries, and widespread property damage.
Impact: Dozens killed nationwide; thousands injured; billions in damage.
Ordinary day → chaos: People commuting home or working downtown suddenly found themselves in the middle of violent unrest.
7. Rodney King Riots — Widespread Urban Breakdown
April 29 – May 4, 1992 – Los Angeles, CA
Civil unrest erupted after the Rodney King verdict, leading to days of violence and destruction.
Impact: 63 killed; 2,300+ injured; 12,000+ arrests.
Ordinary day → chaos: Entire neighborhoods became inaccessible as fires and violence spread rapidly.
8. Boston Marathon Bombing — Terrorist Attack
April 15, 2013 – Boston, MA
Two bombs detonated near the marathon finish line, injuring hundreds and triggering a massive manhunt.
Impact: 3 killed; 260+ injured.
Ordinary day → chaos: Spectators and runners at a family‑friendly event were suddenly caught in a terrorist attack.
9. Las Vegas Concert Shooting — Mass Casualty Event
October 1, 2017 – Las Vegas, NV
A gunman opened fire on a music festival, creating one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
Impact: 58 killed; 850+ injured.
Ordinary day → chaos: A normal night of entertainment turned into a mass‑casualty event within seconds.
10. Anti‑ICE Protests Turning Violent — Political Unrest
2025–2026 – Multiple U.S. Cities
Several Anti‑ICE protests escalated into violent confrontations, resulting in injuries, property damage, and clashes with law enforcement.
Impact: Dozens injured across multiple events; significant property damage; transportation disruptions.
Ordinary day → chaos: Workers, commuters, and bystanders suddenly found themselves in the middle of fast‑moving unrest triggered by political tension.
The Pattern Is Clear
Manmade crises often begin with:
• a single point of failure
• a bad decision
• a fragile system
• a violent act
• a reliance on technology
• or a moment of civil unrest
And they escalate faster than most people expect.
Ordinary people, living ordinary lives, were suddenly caught in extraordinary chaos.
The lesson is simple:
If you build capability for everyday disruptions, you automatically become more resilient to manmade crises — the ones created by human error, system fragility, or deliberate harm.
Resiliency is multi‑layered, situational, and built before the crisis — not during it.
Capability makes you harder to harm, harder to overwhelm, and harder to break.
About the Author
Kevin McVadon is the founder of Trident Resiliency & Strategic Consulting and the author of the Front Sight Focus blog. A retired Naval Special Warfare SEAL officer, he spent years as a mission planner responsible for contingency planning and decision‑making under pressure. Kevin later served as an intelligence manager supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community, where he analyzed nefarious events, tracked global terrorist incidents, and contributed to national‑level situational reporting. He now uses that experience to help individuals and families build calm, practical, capability‑driven resiliency for an unpredictable world.
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