As research was compiled for this blog, I am amazed that my family has been kept safe. My oldest daughter lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia; however, she was safe. She had to evacuate to Richmond, Virginia and stay in a motel during this time. When she returned to her apartment, a switch of the breaker box revealed that she had electricity. Her apartment received some tiny cracks around a couple of windows where water managed to seep in; however, the floors and all her belongings were dry.

My Mom and Dad were raised in Webster's Chapel, a small community in North Alabama. A cousin, a high school classmate, and some others that I know lost homes in the tornado; however, nobody that I knew lost their life. God does graciously watch out over us. Many prayers went up when the tornado came through in April, while my oldest daughter was no longer at the University of Alabama, many of my friends had college age children living in Tuscaloosa. One of them experienced broken glass in her car, but remained unscathed.

Some of the people that were killed in these tornados, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and other natural disasters call Jesus Christ ....Lord. I do not have the answer why some people are kept safe and others are not, but I know that if your time comes and you know Christ as your savior, you will wake up in a better place...free from these disasters!

2001 - An earthquake in El Salvador on January 13, 2001 resulted in a hundred dead and thousands injured after a devastating mudslide. The 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, India killed approximately 20,00 people on January 26, 2001. The country suffered a second earthquake on February 13, 2001.

2003 - On December 27, 2003, an earthquake in Bam, Iran claimed more than 26,000 lives. An additional 30,000 people were killed across Europe during a heat wave in the summer of 2003.

2004 - In Haiti, over 3,000 lives were lost by Hurricane Jeanne in September 2004. On December 26, 2004, a massive undersea earthquake cause a huge tsunami to hit Asia killing approximately 230,000 people.

2005 - The costliest tropical cyclone ever recorded hit southeast Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005 named Hurricane Katrina. Katrina claimed the lives of 1,836 people. A vast portion of the city of New Orleans was submerged under water. Numerous people were left homeless. 74,500 were killed in India and Pakistan when an earthquake occurred in Kashmir on October 8, 2005.

2008 - Cyclone Natris lead to a whopping death toll in excess of 100,000 people due to the storm surge. Sichuan, China experienced an earthquake on May 12, 2008 killing 68, 712 people.

2009 - An earthquake took place in L'Aquila, Italy on April 6, 2009 claiming 309 lives. An outbreak of the H1N1 Flu Virus reached pandemic worldwide proportions in 2009.

2010 - 230,000 people were killed in Haiti when an earthquake occurred on January 12, 2010 and an additional three million people were homeless. An earthquake on February 27, 2010 measured 8.8 took place along the Chilean coast. A large earthquake struck China near Tibet claiming the lives of over 2200 people on April 14, 2010. Volcanic activity lead to an eruption on April 14, 2010 by the Icelandic volcano Eyiafiallaiokull. Flooding in Pakistan, during the summer of 2010, was the result of the record monsoon rains killed 1,600 people and left thousands homeless. Queensland, Austria also experienced costly flooding in 2010 affecting approximately 200,00 people.

2011 - On February 22, 2011, New Zealand experience their second deadliest natural disaster when Christchurch earthquake struck with a 6.3 magnitude. Killing over 15,000 people, the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that occurred on March 11, 2011 in Tohoku, Japan reached a cost of over $300 billion. From April 25th through April 28th, 2011 a storm moved through much of Alabama, with resulting tornados spinning off from the storm destroying an outrageous number of properties in its path and killing over 330 people. An EF5 tornado struck Joplin Missouri on May 22, 2011 resulting in 159 casualties on May 22, 2011. A category 3 hurricane left over 4 million people without power and the monetary estimates are still climbing from Hurricane Irene. It made land in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia and across many of the Caribbean nations with massive flooding damage. A small earthquake hit Virginia and Washington just a few days before causing some structural damage. It is too early to know the monetary projections yet.

Royalty free pic from Stockpodium.com.

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