Hurricanes are probably one of the easiest natural disasters to track and to therefore predict their occurrences and pathways, allowing many lives to be saved. Weather stations, computer modeling, and satellite tracking all help scientists understand how hurricanes are formed and to see their development. Satellite pictures allow officials to virtually see a hurricane form as it happens, and sophisticated hurricane tracking models allow their pathways to be calculated and early warnings to be given.
Earthquakes are very hard to predict but seismic activity has been recorded and tracked since ancient times with the invention of the first basic seismographs. Modern seismographs and other recording equipment are now used by the United States Geological Survey to record all seismic activity across the United States and record the intensity and location. While earthquakes are hard to predict the information gathered at least gives planners and architects the chance to design earthquake appropriate structures and strategies in areas prone to seismic activity.
No other country has more tornadoes than the U.S., and the Midwest areas are particularly prone. As these natural disasters can strike very quickly and can cause huge destruction, tracking them and predicting their appearances and their paths is very important. Since 1953, the National Weather Service has been tracking, observing and studying tornadoes and now there are many organizations and tracking equipment throughout these high risk areas that can predict with reasonable accuracy the beginnings of tornadoes and their paths.
There are three main methods of tracking and predicting floods. Statistical information can be used to discover which rivers, which areas and what times are prone to flooding. In addition, models and maps can be used to predict future floods and their extent. And since the main causes of floods are abnormal amounts of rainfall, meteorological information can be recorded and analyzed to predict the occurrence of floods in the short term.