Surviving a natural disaster is difficult no matter which type of natural disaster it is.

Knowing how to prepare for natural disaster will give you the best chance for survival.

In this article are 10 natural disasters types and how to survive them.

This will teach you how to escape fire whether you are at home, in the car, or in the wilderness.

The first sign of fire is the smell of smoke. Animals will smell this before you so watch for strange animal behavior.

You may hear the roar of the fire before seeing the flames.

A fire can destroy everything in its path. But for most people, abandoning the family home to escape from the fire is a last resort.

To avoid this, minimize and fuel for the fire around your house:

To put out a fire, you need to deprive it of oxygen. Smother it with sand, fire blankets, fire extinguishers, or other firefighting tools.

Water works too but if it is an electrical or oil fire, it will make it worse.

As soon as you feel you cannot control a fire get out of danger and call for help.

Making a fire break is good if the fire is some distance away and there is no way of avoiding it.

The object is to burn off all the fuel in an area so that the main fire has nothing to burn.

The burnt area you create is the fire break and is safe for you to stand in.

Make sure you determine the wind direction before setting your fire.

The fire break width is as wide a line as possible. Good fire break guidelines are to make it 100+ meters wide. It can work as little as 10 meters depending on the size of the fire and strength of the wind.

Maintaining fire breaks if you are in a bush fire area is a must.

Everyone has heard of Stop, Drop, and Roll for if you catch on fire.

Use the same principles on others on fire. This goes for animals too.

Your own safety comes first, so wait until they are clear of the main fire.

Push them to the ground, smother them with a blanket, and tell them to roll around. The heavier the fabric of the blanket the better it will work.

Cool any burned areas of the victim's skin with lots of water and get them to a hospital.

It is good practice to keep a fire extinguisher in your car. Not in the trunk! It must be somewhere easy to get to.

Beer cans make a good improvised fire extinguisher for small fires. Shake it up and open it facing the fire. The carbon dioxide will starve the fire of oxygen.

Protecting the fuel tank is the priority.

When you are in the car that catches on fire, try to put it out. If it that fails, evacuate.

Get out of the car even if the fire is out. The fumes will be toxic.

When a vehicle is on fire in a confined space you can try to remove it from the building, but don’t get into it.

From the outside, put it in a low or reverse gear and bounce the car out with short bursts of the ignition. Be careful. It will jerk forward.

When you see a fire in the wilderness, avoid it.

First try to go around it.

The next best option is to move downhill and/or into the wind. These are the directions that fire travels the slowest. Smoke is a good indicator of wind direction.

When that is not possible, head for a natural firebreak. Natural firebreaks are things like water, a large clearing, a deep ravine, etc.

If you can't avoid the fire, you can try to run through it as long as the vegetation is not thick.

If you plan to do this, the sooner the better.

Cover as much exposed skin as you can and soak yourself in water. Protect your mouth and nose with a damp cloth.

As a last resort, bury yourself.

Clear the area of foliage and dig as much of a hollow as possible. Throw the dirt onto a coat, blanket, or something similar.

Lie face down and pull the coat with the dirt on it over the top of yourself.

Cup your hands over your mouth and nose and try to hold your breath as fire passes over.

When you are in a vehicle, stay in it.

Don’t drive through thick smoke. Instead, park in a clear area.

If there is no clear areas, pull off the road but don’t risk getting bogged.

Turn on your headlights, shut the windows, and seal the air vents.

Flood is a natural disaster that often happens as an aftermath to some other disaster such as hurricanes or tidal waves.

If you expect a flood, avoid it by getting to higher ground.

If you are at home or in a building during a flood, prepare survival kits and a raft as soon as possible.

Also, turn off gas, electricity and water at the mains.

Once you are ready, move to an upper floor or roof with a shelter.

If it is a sloping roof, tie everyone on. Stay put as long as possible.

When evacuating, or if caught in a flash flood in a car, be extra careful on the roads.

Do not cross water unless certain of the depth. It must be shallower than the center of your vehicles wheels or your knees if on foot.

Bridges underwater may have missing sections and even a small drop in a hill can make a big difference in water level.

If your car dies, abandon it.

Once the flood is over, you need to be very careful of contamination and disease. Do not walk around in, drink, or bathe in flood water.

Purify all water and clean anything that has come in contact with flood water before consuming it.

Don't eat animal corpses or any fresh food that has come in contact with flood water.

Burn the dead.

There can be multiple names for natural disasters. Landslides, mudslides, debris slides, etc. are all the same.

One of the important survival skills during landslides is to recognize when one is approaching.

Signs of a landslide include:

When you suspect a landslide, move away and get to high ground as fast as possible.

If you get caught in a landslide, roll into a tight ball on the ground. Protect your head.

Once the landslide is over, keep away from the disaster area in case there are more.

Watch for associated dangers including broken electrical, water, gas, etc.

Repair and replant in damaged ground as soon as possible.

In this section you will learn how to stay safe in a lightning storm including what not to do during a lightning storm.

The chances of getting struck by lightning are smaller, but you get hit your chances of survival are even smaller.

Knowing how to stay safe during a lightning storm is as easy as staying inside.

When outside during a thunderstorm, avoid high ground and isolated tall objects.

You can try to find natural shelter, but not in the mouth of a cave or under an overhang of rock. Deep inside a cave is okay, but have at least one meter of space around you.

If you feel a tingling of the skin and/or hair standing on end, crouch down and make yourself as compact as possible. Try to get on something for insulation - nothing metal or wet.

A blizzard is a snowstorm which lasts 3+ hours and has 50km+ winds.

There are also ground blizzards where it is not snowing. Instead, strong winds blow the loose snow on the ground up.

This section aims to answer the question "what should someone do if they are caught in a blizzard?"

The best advice on how to prepare for a blizzard is to take shelter until it passes.

If camping in a snow blizzard stay inside your shelter. One of the biggest dangers of camping in blizzard conditions is getting buried in snow. Make sure you have tools inside your shelter so you can dig yourself out.

Building a blizzard shelter is the answer for how to survive a blizzard outside.

An easy to build emergency snow shelter is the boy scout snow cave. Here are the steps:

If you need to move from your shelter during a blizzard, make sure you can find it again. Hang something bright off it.

Never move at night!

The term hurricane covers a few kinds of natural disasters including cyclones, typhoons, and other large storms.

All these types of storms are a little different, but the steps to survive them is the same.

During a hurricane, there will be a period of calm. This is the eye of the storm and may last up to an hour before the storm picks up again.

Signs of a hurricane include:

You can hear tornadoes from great distances. They sound like a spinning top. They also have a calm eye like that of a hurricane.

Your best chance for surviving a tornado is to take shelter below ground.

If there is no below-ground or re-enforced shelter, close all doors and windows.

Go to the center of the lowest floor and into a small room such as a bathroom or closet. Stay away from glass and where there is heavy furniture on the floor above you.

Get under sturdy furniture or cover your body with a mattress.

Do not stay in a car or caravan unless there is no other option. Any building is better than a car.

If you have no choice, put your seatbelt on, cover yourself, and keep low.

When there is no shelter, go to an open area.

Move at right angles to the tornado’s predicted path and take shelter in a ditch or depression.

Lie flat and cover your head with your arms.

What is a volcanic eruption? A volcanic eruption is when lava and gas spurt from a volcano. It poses many threats. All are life-threatening.

Knowing what to do in case of volcanic eruption starts with recognizing the signs.

Signs of volcanic eruption include:

Here is what happens during a volcanic eruption and tips for how to survive a volcanic eruption.

You can outrun lava but it won’t stop until it hits a valley or cools off.

Missiles can be of ash, rock, molten lava, etc. Wear a hard hat.

Ash will make the roads slippery so be extra careful when driving.

Cover your mouth and nose with a damp cloth or an industrial mask and wear goggles that seal around the eyes.

Once you reach shelter, remove your clothing. Wash any exposed skin well, and flush your eyes with clean water.

Take refuge in an underground shelter or under water while it passes overhead.

Mud flows can occur during the eruption or after it has finished. Deal with them in the same way as land slides.

Knowing what to do after a volcanic eruption depends on which of the above things occurred. You will want to stay clear of the area for a while. Follow what the rescue services say.

I hope these volcano survival tips help you decide what to do before, during, and after a volcanic eruption.

When in avalanche territory there are times and places where avalanche is more likely. They include:

As soon as you see the avalanche approaching, get rid of access weight such as packs.

Use the freestyle swimming stroke to stay on top of the snow.

If you can't stay on top, cover your mouth and nose.

As soon as you stop, make as big an area as possible whilst trying to reach the surface.

To figure out where the surface is, use gravity and an object or your spit to determine which way is down. Dig up.

You can use your ski pole to poke the snow to find open air.

Note: It is common to find people buried next to trees and benches.

When you live in an earthquake prone area, having an earthquake preparedness plan is a must.

Often you will have prior warning. If this is the case gather all useful provisions such as medical and survival kits as soon as possible.

Prepare your home by turning off gas, electricity, and water at the mains. Also, remove large and heavy objects from high places.

Continue to listen to the media and do as instructed.

Here's how to survive an earthquake at school, what to do in an earthquake in an apartment, or in any building.

The number one rule to survive and earthquake in a building is to stay inside the building. The lower you are the better, e.g., basement.

Get to one of the following (in a rough order of preference):

When you are in a car and an earthquake hits stop in an open area and stay inside it. Crouch below seat level.

Do not stop on or under a bridge!

Be extra careful on the road when you resume driving.

If you are outside during an earthquake your best bet is to find an open space and lie flat.

Beaches not below cliffs are safe during the earthquake but evacuate as soon as the major tremors finish in case of a tidal wave.

Do not go underground or in any tunnels and get away from tall structures including trees.

The safest place on a hill is on the top.

After the earthquake there is likely to be structural damage. Do not take shelter in a damaged building. Build a temporary one from debris instead.

When at home, shut off electricity, gas, and water at the mains. If your gas is already off, let the gas company turn it back on.

Do not make any sparks or flames or use electricity until 100% sure there are no gas leaks.

Keep your phone line available for emergency calls. If your phone line is down, send someone for help.

Be careful when opening cupboards.

When venturing outside, stay clear of downed electrical lines and other hazards.

Now you know how to prepare for a natural disaster, and how to survive a natural disaster too.

The above natural disaster list does not include all the natural disasters you may face but I think it covers a good range.

Knowing the facts about natural disasters is important and managing natural disasters is different in different places.

Learn the information you need to survive natural disasters in any area you plan to be in.

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