Natural Disasters

In addition to earthquakes, pandemics and human-caused events, there are many other types of disasters that may occur in nature, which are naturally called Natural Disasters.

All residents are encouraged to prepare for natural disaster scenarios as part of their emergency preparedness plan. Some natural disasters may happen immediately, such as when an avalanche occurs while skiing; other natural disasters may happen over a period of time, such as a drought. The types of preparation may vary, depending on the nature of the disaster. However, the resources needed for that specific disaster are often useful for more than one kind of natural disaster. If you are not prepared for various natural disasters that are more likely to occur in your situation (such as an avalanche if you’re a skier, for example), you may suffer more severe consequences than if you were better prepared.

The following links provide additional information about various types of natural disasters, including preparedness information.

Avalanche: An avalanche is a large amount of snow moving quickly down a mountain. People caught in avalanches can die from suffocation, trauma or hypothermia.
https://www.ready.gov/avalanche

Drought: Periods of reduced rainfall. Planning in advance for a drought can protect us in dry years.
https://www.ready.gov/drought

Extreme Heat: In extreme heat, your body works extra hard to maintain a normal temperature, which can lead to death.
https://www.ready.gov/heat

Floods: Flooding is a temporary overflow of water onto land that is normally dry. Failing to evacuate flooded areas can lead to injury or death.
https://www.ready.gov/floods

Power Outages: A power outage is when the electrical power goes out unexpectedly. Power outages may occur due to natural or human causes. Extended power outages may impact the whole community and the economy.
https://www.ready.gov/power-outages

Severe Weather: This can include hazardous conditions produced by thunderstorms, winds, tornadoes, large hail, flooding, flash flooding, and winter storms.
https://www.ready.gov/severe-weather

Space Weather: The sun in the main source of space weather. Sudden bursts of plasma and magnetic field structures from the sun’s atmosphere cause space weather effects here on Earth.
https://www.ready.gov/space-weather

Thunderstorms and Lightning: Lightning is a leading cause of injury and death from weather-related hazards. Thunderstorms also may include powerful winds, hail, flash-flooding and tornadoes.
https://www.ready.gov/thunderstorms-lightning

Tornadoes: Tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air that extend from a thunderstorm to the ground. They can destroy buildings, flip cars, and create deadly flying debris.
https://www.ready.gov/tornadoes

Wildfires: Wildfires are unplanned fires that burn in natural areas like forests, grasslands or prairies. These dangerous fires spread quickly and can devastate not only natural areas, but also communities.
https://www.ready.gov/wildfires

Winter Weather: Winter storms include blizzards, and can bring extreme cold, freezing rain, snow, ice and high winds. Winter storms create a higher risk of car accidents, hypothermia, frostbite, carbon monoxide poisoning and heart attacks from overexertion.
https://www.ready.gov/winter-weather