Disasters and Emergencies

Be Aware

When a tornado is coming, you have only a short amount of time to make life-or-death decisions.

Know your area’s risk for storms. In most places they can occur year-round and at any hour.

Floods are the most common natural disaster. Learn how to stay safe when a flood threatens.

Heat is one of the leading weather-related killers, resulting in hundreds of deaths each year.

Winter storms create a higher risk of car accidents, hypothermia, frostbite, and heart attacks.

Every year, fires cause thousands of deaths and injuries and billions of dollars in property damage.

Hazardous materials are chemical substances, which if released or misused can pose a threat.

Although earthquakes in Iowa are extremely rare, the threat always exists nontheless.

Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.

The force of rocks, soil, or other debris moving down a slope can devastate anything in its path.

Nuclear power plants have generated about 20% of United States electricity since 1990.

Derechos are fast-moving bands of thunderstorms with very destructive winds.