 Any natural or man-made incident which results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, environment, and/or economy.

 Can spread slowly or very fast; wind has the biggest impact  Lightning strikes cause 1 out of every 5 wildfires  Drought, wind, high temps. & low humidity help them spread

 Millions of acres of forest can be destroyed  Animals may become endangered due to habitat destruction  Economic losses can impact humans

 Winds blow in a spiral around a calm center called an eye  May last a week or more  Forms from a tropical storm over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico

 An unusually long period of dry weather that lasts long enough to cause water supply shortages  Lack of adequate precipitation for 2+ years can become a drought  Crop failure, livestock death, increased forest fires, and water shortages

 A vent in the Earth which allows magma to escape to the surface  When pressure from gases within the magma become too great, an eruption occurs  Searing hot poisonous gases, lava flows, flash flooding, and tsunamis

 Can affect breathing, contaminate water supplies, collapse roofs, disrupt machinery, and cause jet engines to fail while flying

 Violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm down to the ground  Associated with strong, frontal systems that form in the Central States and move east  Can destroy buildings and vehicles, uproot trees

 A series of waves that can travel between mph in the open ocean  Ocean waves produced by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, meteorite impact, or underwater landslides

 Can occur during any season and any time of day or night  Impact includes drowning, flooding, contamination of drinking water, loss of habitat or human homes

 The vibration of the Earth’s surface that occurs after a release of energy in the crust  Occurs where two tectonic plates collide  Can cause landslides, avalanches, fires, tsunamis, property damage, and loss of life

 An overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry  Caused by intense or long term precipitation, hurricane storm surges, or melting snow

 Humans have altered the landscape in several ways~paving the ground for housing, roads, and parking lots  Can cause loss of life, disease, property loss or damage, contamination of drinking water, destruction of crops and livestock