Natural Disasters and Extreme Weather

Mt. Vesuvius August 24, 79 AD Destroyed Roman Empire city of Pompeii. Killed thousands Much of the city was covered in volcanic rock and has been discovered in recent years.

Krakatoa On a small island in Indonesia. It blew the island apart. First worldwide reported volcano. Sailors on ships miles away suffered busted ear drums times more powerful than A bombs dropped in WWII. Created 120 ft tsunami.

San Francisco Earthquake 1906 Destroyed most of the city. More than 3000 people were killed. Led to redesigning American buildings (especially in California).

Indonesian Tsunami 2004 Killed more than 200,000 people. Destroyed many small islands. Unexpected and little warning.

Icelandic Volcano 2010 Halted air travel for several days across Europe. Ash cloud could be seen from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Desertification The process of soil becoming dry due to the loss of moisture and nutrients. Best example is the Sahel in West Africa. The Sahara Desert is expanding because of this process.

Hurricane Katrina Slammed Florida and then into southern Louisiana. Storm surge cause New Orleans levies to break. Nearly 80% of the city was under at least 4 ft of water for days.

Hurricane Ike 2008 Slammed into Galveston and then into Houston. Caused flooding all the way to Chicago.

Alabama Tornadoes 2011 Massive tornadoes ripped through the southern states during a burst of severe thunderstorms. Northern Alabama was devestated.