We are fortunate not to get dramatic disasters in the Inland NW, such as hurricanes and major earthquakes, but we do get our share of disasters as listed below. These disasters can have dramatic impacts on the community and the timing of the next one is unpredictable requiring each person or household maintain a level of preparedness.

* Winter Storms in December 1996, spring & winter of 2008

* Ice Storm in November of 1996

* Floods in 1963, 1986, 1996 and 2008

* Droughts in 1977 and 2005

* Volcano in May of 1980: shut down the town for several days and stores were emptied of food.

* Wildfires in:
   # Hangman Hills in 1987
   # Fire Storm in October of 1991
   # Bowie Road in August of 1996
   # Newkirk/Red Lake Fire in August of 1997
   # Valley View Fire in July of 2008

* Home Fires (most common)

* Water Supply Contamination: usually occur at a specific point in a water system and affects a limited number of residents "downstream" for a few days.

* Wind storm in June of 2005

* Power outages: usually associated with one of the above incidents and may last a short period to a couple of weeks. The severity is usually greater during winter months when home heating and lighting become an issue.