The term “Natural Disasters” as used in this essay would include floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, blizzards, avalanches and all other acts of nature as they impact upon people. The flood of 1927 was widespread and affected people in many states. The Kansas Flood of 1927 shows a familiar scene that was repeated over a wide area.

Tennessee River Flood illustrates the devastating effect of flood waters on the population in Tennessee during the Great Depression. Moreover, these people also suffered from outbreaks of meningitis, influenza and Yellow Fever during 1936-1937. Cypress Street Viaduct shows the collapse of the freeway during the 1989 World Series in the San Francisco area.  It is sometimes called the World Series Earthquake, but more correctly it was known as the Loma Prieta Earthquake.

Hurricanes have the ability to strike inland and cause widespread damage as illustrated by Ansonia Hurricane Damage in Connecticut.  Not all hurricanes affect only the coastal areas along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Tornado Damage shows a young boy walking past a row of destroyed homes in Alexandria, Louisiana in 1957 as the result of an F3 tornado. Tornadoes can and do occur in areas outside of “Tornado Alley” in the Midwest.  Pennsylvania and Ohio are also targeted by tornadoes as well as Louisiana.

Perhaps we can say that natural disasters of various magnitudes are more predictable in certain areas of the county than others, but no area is completely safe from risk. The type of disaster may vary forcing people to prepare differently. Preparations for hurricane damage in Florida would seem out of place in San Francisco where the concern is more for earthquakes. Floods can and do occur particularly where there are rivers that overflow either on a regular basis or in the case of extreme storms. Blizzards can happen in the deep South although they may be rare.  Tornadoes are not usually suspected in areas removed from “Tornado Alley” yet when they do occur they are sudden and devastating.

Some people may attach a religious significance to damage from natural disasters. The earth and the universe for that matter is a violent place. The world’s climate is vastly different from several thousand years ago as we are living through a warming period. It would be a false assumption to believe that it will always remain this way. Change will come. If you take notice an earthquake on one edge of a tectonic plate will often trigger another corresponding, earthquake on the opposite side of that plate. Natural disasters are simply nature’s way of making adjustments to the environment without consideration for humans. It is we that have to deal with what are simply natural events.