Introduction
During the last decade, natural disasters have appeared all over the news. While watching the news and reading our novel, we have seen a glimpse into the terrifying and unpredictable strength of Mother Nature. At times, it seems that we are seeing an unusually high number of these occurrences, but the reality is that these events are commonplace on our planet Earth. In many cases, these occurrences are reported as interesting news stories only and not given the attention they demand. It is our job to make sure we are aware of the dangers that can strike unexpectedly and formulate strategies to deal with the worst-case scenarios.