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• 1883- On a small island

in Indonesia. It blew the island apart.

• First worldwide reported volcano.

• Sailors on ships miles away suffered busted ear drums.

• 1000 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

• 2005- 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.