Natural disasters have a wide variety of causes. Some are climate-related
(such as tornadoes, hurricanes, wind storms, hail, sea fog, ice
or freezing rain), some are caused by specifically geological events
(earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, volcanic eruptions or tsunamis),
and others have a variety of causes (forest fires or floods). As
well, one catastrophe often creates a situation leading to another
disaster: by destroying the vegetation on the flanks of mountains,
forest fires can cause landslides; and hurricanes can result in
flooding.
Natural disasters can strike with lightning speed or they may build up over a long period of time. Their arsenal includes water, fire, air, earth, and they are aided by cold, heat, gravity and other powerful forces of nature.
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