The disasters vary in type of natural catastrophe, number of people and size of the geographic area impacted, and length of the grant period. The types of disasters represented include floods, firestorms, tornadoes, severe storms, hurricanes and an earthquake. Each type of disaster has it own unique pattern of destruction that affects the emotional response of disaster victims. Flood disasters can result in long incident periods and the evacuation of whole communities. Earthquakes strike without warning and aftershocks intensify the fright and despair.
Tornadoes randomly select their victims, skipping one house and striking the next.
Hurricanes can be unpredictable and suddenly change course. Residents of islands have nowhere to escape the pounding of a hurricane or typhoon. A firestorm destroys everything in its path. In addition to the threat of loss of life and property, much of the wildlife and vegetation are destroyed. The number of crisis counseling contacts in each disaster ranged from several thousand for the smaller disasters to close to two million for the Northridge Earthquake.