We are currently tracking the following man-made or natural types of disasters:
A series of vibrations in the Earth's crust caused by a shift in tectonic plates which may cause mild to catastrophic damage to structures on the surface. An earthquake is often observed as side-to-side, up-and-down, cracking, cratering, or rolling movement of buildings, roadways and other land structures. Earthquakes may originate at varying depths under the surface and may have an epicenter located under a body of water which can result in localized flooding. There are usually a series of small tremors in increasing intensity before a major earthquake. However, that is not always the case and therefore, the prediction of earthquakes is vastly unavailable.
A man-made or natural occurrance where water invades low lying geographic regions submerging items on the surface. Floods can cause biological hazzards such as mold and mildew, mild to severe structural damage, and breeding grounds for disease carrying insects and rodents. Flooding can happen in very short time spans. There are varying degrees of warning before an actual flood event under most circumstances. Flash flood watches are issued where the conditions are favorable for a large amount of water, usually rain, to rush over low lying areas. Flash flood warnings mean that flash flooding is either taking place, or will take place in the immediate future. More general types of flooding usually carry flood watches or flood warnings. This type of flood usually covers a much larger geographical area such as when a river overflows its banks, a dam has been breeched, hurricanes, or lengty or intense periods of rain.
A natural occurrence of a storm originating in tropical waters. Cyclonic in nature, these storms carry high winds in excess of 74 miles per hour and massive amounts of rain which usually results in flooding. Typically hundreds of miles in diameter, these storm systems must be taken seriously and they can cause mild to catastrophic wide spread danger and loss of human life.
A natural occurrence of high speed cyclonic winds. Although most common in "Tornado Alley", a geographical area spanning the Mid-west states, tornadoes can occur almost anywhere there is a sharp contrast in temperatures (ground temperature to air temperature), lift in the atmosphere and cross directional wind sheer. This violently rotating column of air usually has winds from 40 to 100 mph but they can exceed 300mph. Tornadoes are most frequent in the spring as warm air and cold ari collide in the middle of the country during the transition from winter to summer. They may range in diameter on the ground from a few feet to over 1 mile as seen in large wedge type tornadoes. Tornadoes are scaled in varying level of wind speeds as measured on the Fujita Scale and the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Lower grade tornadoes can cause minor structural damage while the most extreme tornadoes can raze structures and peel asphalt from roadbeds.