Earthquakes, floods, and droughts have the power to reduce communities to rubble or ghost towns, leaving many dead and many more homeless. Bangladesh is a good example of where many people lost everything they owned because of flooding. There is currently mass starvation and homelessness in the drought-stricken area of Ethiopia. For over a decade the once lush and fertile pasture and farmlands of Ethiopia have suffered from a severe lack of rain, which has turned the ground to dust. Millions of Ethiopians wander through this desert in search of water, food and shelter.
Homelessness is a complex situation often caused by more than one factor.
The nation of Nicaragua is a good example of this. In 1979 a civil war began that left thousands dead and even more homeless. To make matters worse, in 1984 Nicaragua was devastated by an earthquake so severe that the country has yet to recover from the damage. In recent times a volcano called Mount St. Helens erupted in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The force of that explosion destroyed homes for miles around, and the lava dust that drifted through the air was so thick it drove people out of their towns.