Top 7 disasters to get ready for – hopefully we will never have to experience them

Nick Oetken

Disasters are something that is all around us and can ruin our everyday life at any moment. Therefore, we have to be ready to face them at any time, especially during this period when the number of natural disasters that we see on TV gets higher each day.

The most terrifying thing about the disasters is the fact that we cannot influence or control them anyhow. The only thing we can do is to try to stay safe at the moment they happen and deal with the consequences afterwards.

City disaster
City disaster

 

Destroyed home
Destroyed home

We list the top 10 disasters that could possibly happen to us:

Hurricanes

Hurricane from outer space
Hurricane from outer space

Somewhere called typhoons, somewhere cyclones, but hurricanes are surely known as the greatest danger to the East, and mostly to the West Coasts of the U.S. This is due to the fault line in Alaska. Namely, in 1964, there happened a dangerous earthquake which shook the area brutally and sent an enormous tsunami to the West Coast killing more than 130 people.

Hurricane
Hurricane

It is believed that the following big hurricane will be much more brutal and will hit at least five major cities of the coast of Alaska, Oregon, British Columbia, Washington, and California.

Aftermath of a flood
Aftermath of a flood

After the Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, we cannot say that the East Coast is less vulnerable than the West. If any Hurricane of the 4th Category hits the East Coast once again, it can cause much more disaster than any of these two did so far.

Earthquakes

Earthquake
Earthquake

This kind of disaster can destroy a whole city and kill thousands of human beings in just a several minutes. For instance, the earthquake in Shaanxi, China which happened in 1556 more than eight hundred thousand people died. Moreover, as we mentioned above, earthquakes can additionally cause hurricanes which means that the disaster has not ended yet and there might follow an even more violent one.

The power of earthquakes
The power of earthquakes

What is dangerous about living in California is the fact that it is believed that this area is about to have another Earthquake which, if powerful enough, can demolish cities such as San Francisco or Los Angeles. This will make millions of people migrate or get evacuated in the neighboring countries in the East and the U.S. will have difficulties recovering after such a disaster.

In 1811, the east side of America had also been stroke by a huge earthquake which hit the area of Mississippi River and destroyed urban centres in Tennessee and Missouri.

Floods

A city totally flooded
A city totally flooded

Floods are not just the most occurring natural disasters on the coasts, but they are also the most re-occurring ones. The consequences that happen after a hurricane, such as Hurricane Katrina, or the flashflood that flushes down from higher elevations after a rainstorm are called flood.

Floods also happen very quickly without letting us get ready to react. Just four inches of water is needed for a car to be drowned, while it takes a very long period of time for that water to drain out. The process of drying can even reach up to several weeks. It is not pleasant to watch your city covered in water and look like a lake, but apparently, it is likely possible to happen.

Fires

Every year, thousands of acres are destroyed as a result of a wild fire. If the temperature of the fire in the forest is higher than 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, the fire can demolish everything to ashes. The last thing you want is to find yourself in the middle of a forest caught on fire because it is far more dangerous than any hurricane or earthquake. You have the chance to escape as long as your eyes and lungs are not damaged by the super hot air, but you can hardly find a way to escape.

Wildfire
Wildfire

The American history has recorded the Great Fire of 1910 as the biggest one which burned more than three million acres of land over the Northwestern area of the U.S. This fire has totally changed the policy on how to fight wildfires to the point that even small ones do not have any chance to spread, because it only takes a little spark and the proper conditions for the disaster to happen.

Economic and food crisis

Crisis
Crisis

Unfortunately, nowadays there are many countries around the world that are facing a food crisis and dozens of people who live undernourished. Luckily, the number of hungry people that live in developed countries is very small, but in any case we shouldn’t abandon the chances of starvation hitting us as well.

Poverty
Poverty

Our economic situation can also lead to food crisis. Since the Great Recession and the Great Depression were not disastrous enough, there might come another economic world crisis which will make a living hard enough for anyone to survive.

Drought

Dry land
Dry land

When there is no water, there is no food as well. So, since it influences both the food supplies and the water, droughts can be rated as a twice disastrous issue. Nevertheless, many preppers overlook on how to survive in a drought because they are more focused on terrorist attacks or nuclear disasters.

Drought
Drought

In any case, drought is not just a lack of water because it can also raise the chances of wildfires or economic crisis to appear too. None of us can live without water, and when we run out of it we all go into some kind of a survival mode. In case to get ready for a drought, one should stock up on water and also research the weather patterns.

Diseases

Disease
Disease

One of the deadliest disasters that happened across Europe several centuries ago is the disease Bubonic Plague. It spread very quickly and affected everybody. Diseases are something that cannot be escaped since no one can guarantee that it will not come to your area of living, while the earthquakes of floods will not hit you if you are on the other part of the country.

Virus
Virus

The U.S. has been struck by many diseases which killed thousands of people during the history. An example of it is the Spanish Influenza that happened in 1918. At first, people suffer from the disease, but if there are no medicines to prevent it, they don`t survive and spread the disease to the others around them.

Earth
Earth

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nick-oetken

nick-oetken is one of the authors writing for Outdoor Revival