You’ve seen them on the news: hurricanes of horrendous destruction. Wildfires of unspeakable devastation. Earthquakes that have leveled cities. Flash floods that have swept away homes and ruined lives.
But I’ve seen them first-hand, often just a few hours after they hit unsuspecting areas while the local folks are still in shock.
As an emergency management consultant with over 40 years of boots on the ground experience, I’ve worked with FEMA and as a S.F. Bay Area Fire Department Battalion Chief.
My role as a disaster management expert and public information officer has enabled me to assess damage up-close, make recommendations to government entities, and supervise disaster relief efforts.
So what are the worst disasters I’ve ever seen caused by earth, wind and fire? It’s difficult to choose just one for each, but here are my thoughts.
Earthquakes That Shocked Millions.
The Loma Prieta Earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area during the evening rush hour on October 17, 1989 only lasted about 15 seconds. But it was strong enough to cancel the third game of the SF Giants and Oakland A’s World Series, which was later rescheduled to be played 10 days later.
But with a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter Scale, it caused approximately $6 billion in damage, was felt from Monterey Bay to Marin County, caused buildings and freeways to collapse from San Francisco to Oakland, made a 50-foot section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge fall, killed 63 people, and left over 3,700 injured.
Furthermore, this quake knocked out power to an estimated 1.4 million people. At the time, I was a Fire Department Captain in Fremont, California, and we responded to numerous calls for help throughout the week. As an emergency management consultant, I had never seen one earthquake cause so much damage.
Winds Gone Wild.
I was a Presidential-appointed Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO) for 12 disasters and emergency declarations in multiple states during my tenure at FEMA.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 had one of the widest paths of destruction and flooding ever, from Louisiana to Florida.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Maria in 2017 was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike Puerto Rico and knocked out power to more than one million residents of the island nation.
However, Superstorm Sandy in 2012 was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of that year and inflicted nearly $70 billion in damage to 22 states from Florida to Maine, but principally in New York City, as well as some northern Caribbean Islands.
Sandy was also the most widely spread disaster to affect a highly populated area, as well as the longest electrical blackout in the continental United States. I’ve seen the aftermath of dozens of hurricanes and tornadoes as a disaster management expert, but Superstorm Sandy’s devastation and five-day blizzard that followed it was just mind-boggling.
Fire, Fire Everywhere.
Every year, forest fires destroy trees, kill wildlife, and cause folks in its path to evacuate. And every year, it seems like there are more fires of greater size and wider destruction.
But last summer’s Camp Fire near Chico, California, was by far the worst I ever witnessed.
Every year, forest fires destroy trees, kill wildlife, and cause folks in its path to evacuate. And every year, it seems like there are more fires of greater size and wider destruction.
But last summer’s Camp Fire near Chico, California, was by far the worst I had ever witnessed. As the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in 90 years––it killed 102 people––it also became the world’s costliest natural disaster with a price tag of $16.5 billion in damage.
This wide-ranging, fast-moving fire burned 153,000 acres, nearly 19,000 buildings, and took 17 days to completely contain it. The destruction I saw was other-worldly and was so complete that the town of Paradise looked like the surface of the moon.
I sincerely hope I never see earthquakes, hurricanes or wildfires as deadly as the ones I’ve seen as an emergency management consultant. Unfortunately, time will only tell what’s next.
