Timothy Welch: Cyclone Gabrielle - the case for burying power lines

Another extreme weather event has highlighted the weak points in New Zealand’s critical infrastructure. As Cyclone Gabrielle ripped across the North Island, nearly 225,000 people lost power.

The cause is relatively obvious: many houses and buildings are connected to the power grid by overground power lines. Overhead wires, a common sight around many suburbs, are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events. When the winds pick up, limbs and trees fall, and power lines are dragged down.

But one solution is equally obvious: bury the power lines. With the threat of more frequent storms of increasing intensity, the risk to households, businesses and personal safety demands this option be seriously considered.

Matthew Birchall: Focus on infrastructure security

No one likes to spend their precious Saturday morning waiting for the train. But that is exactly what residents of northern Germany were forced to endure in early October, after cables needed to operate the trains were cut.

Traffic came to a standstill for three hours. Unless you owned a kiosk in the station serving coffee, you were unlikely to be impressed.

And all it took were two cables. Two cables.

This is just one small story that shows what can go wrong when critical infrastructure is not protected.