What Types of Disasters Do You Need to Prepare For? The American Red Cross is committed to doing its part to help keep families and communities safer from the ravages of natural hazards. That is why we are promoting and supporting disaster mitigation efforts (measures that can either prevent the occurrence of a disaster or reduce the severity of its effects) across the United States. Although occasional episodes of a particular type of natural hazard can occur anywhere in the United States, most of them tend to occur more frequently in some areas of the country than in others. How to find out if you and your family are prepared: Click on a disaster to see if it frequently occurs in the state where you live. Drought  |  Earthquake  |   Flood  |  Hailstorm  |   Hurricane  |  Mudslide  |   Severe Thunderstorm Storm Surge  |  Tornado  |   Tsunami   |  Volcano  |   Wildfire  |  Winter Storm