Natural Disasters
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Southern Ontario Tornado Outbreak 2009
Declared the largest tornado outbreak in Canadian history, a total of 18 tornadoes touched down. This surpassed the number of tornadoes in the 2006 Ontario outbreak.
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September 2009 Atlanta Georgia Floods
Although it looked like a tropical storm had swept across northern Georgia, flooding was caused by steady rain saturating the ground until it had nowhere to go.
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Samoa Earthquake and Tsunami September 29, 2009
An early morning offshore earthquake on September 29, 2009 in the Samoa Islands caused a tsunami that brought death and destruction to American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga.
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Xenia Ohio Tornado April 1974
Xenia, Ohio was unexpectedly struck by a F5 tornado on April 3, 1974, which was the beginning of a 24-hour tornado outbreak that became the worst in US history.
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Barrie Ontario Tornado Outbreak 1985
Part of a tornado swarm that hit Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and Southern Ontario, a F4 tornado struck the city of Barrie located north of Toronto on May 31, 1985.
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Sumatra Indonesia Earthquake September 30, 2009
The Sumatra earthquake occurred only hours after an 8.0 magnitude struck the Samoan Islands and triggered a 20 foot tsunami which killed over 100 people.
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Great California ShakeOut October 15, 2009
After the success of the 2008 earthquake drill with 5.5 million participants, the California ShakeOut is now an annual event held on the third Thursday of October.
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Hurricane Camille August 1969
Camille took a sudden turn and battered the U.S. Gulf Coast as a Category 5 hurricane and caused widespread damage as far north as the Appalachian Mountains.
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Great Lakes Sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
Also known as the "Mighty Fitz", this Great Lakes freighter sank during a gale near Whitefish Point. No distress signal was broadcast and all 29 crew members died.
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Java Indonesia Earthquake September 2, 2009
A strong earthquake on September 2, 2009 struck west Java, Indonesia. Effects were felt in Jakarta and Bali. A tsunami warning was issued but canceled an hour later.
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Hurricane Isidore September 2002
The projected path of Hurricane Isidore was to make landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane. Instead it turned westward and hit Mexico as a Category 3.
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Rabaul Eruption, Papua New Guinea, 1994
An eruption of two vents in the Rabaul caldera, Vulcan and Tavurvur, forced the evacuation of residents, buried the airport and collapsed most buildings in the city.
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SARS Epidemic 2002 to 2003
What started out as a fatality from pneumonia in 2002 in southern China, led to a pandemic and death in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and Canada.
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Tropical Cyclone Nargis 2008
On May 2, 2008, tropical cyclone Nargis made landfall on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and it was the worst natural disaster recorded in the history of the country.
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1995 Chicago Heat Wave
Soaring temperatures starting July 12, 1995 combined with air pollution and high humidity made life unbearable in the Midwest.
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L'Aquila Italy Earthquake 2009
A series of earthquakes toppled buildings in central Italy, resulting in a death toll of 297 people in addition to leaving thousands of residents homeless.
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Unrest at Mount Mayon Volcano in the Philippines
Philippine volcanologists have raised the alert level at Mount Mayon to moderate unrest due to minor quakes and a glow observed in the summit crater.
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Spanish Flu Pandemic 1918
This wild outbreak of influenza spread to almost every part of the world and millions of people lost their lives from this contagious disease.
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Peru Meteorite Crash 2007
After a fireball falling from the sky smashed into the high plains in the Andes near Lake Titicaca, onlookers who went near the crater become nauseated.
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Sarychev Peak Volcano, June 12, 2009
Northern Pacific flights bound for Japan, Shanghai and Korea are being cancelled or rerouted due to volcanic ash spewing from the Russian volcano, Sarychev Peak.
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Crash of Delta Air Lines Flight 191
Unexpected wind shear produced by a microburst caused a disastrous landing at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on August 2nd, 1985.
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North Sea Flood of 1953
Hurricane force winds from the North Atlantic produced a storm surge in the North Sea and caused widespread coastal flooding by breaching seawalls and dikes.
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Black Sunday Dust Storm on April 14, 1935
As the large wall of dust clouds roared through the Dust Bowl, the light of day instantly turned into the darkness of night.
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The Long Beach Earthquake 1933
Poorly constructed buildings, without reinforcement, toppled from Los Angeles to Laguna Beach, resulting in legislation to make structures more earthquake-resistant.
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Southern Leyte Philippines Landslide 2006
On February 17, 2006, an avalanche of boulders and mud rushed down a mountainside in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte and buried Guinsaugon village.
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