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with them. Extended power outages, however, can disrupt personal and busi-
ness activities as well as medical and rescue services, leading to business
losses and medical emergencies. Extended loss of power can lead to civil
disorder, as in the New York City blackout of 1977. Power outages often ac-
company other types of disasters, such as hurricanes and floods, which ham-
pers relief actions.
Recent notable power outages include the 2005 Java–Bali Blackout
which affected 100 million people and the 2009 Brazil and Paraguay black-
out which affected 60 million people.
Fire
Bush fires, forest fires, and mine fires are generally started by
lightning, but also by human negligence or arson. They can burn thousands
of square kilometers. If a fire intensifies enough to produce its own winds
and "weather", it will form into a firestorm. A good example of a mine fire is
the one near Centralia, Pennsylvania. Started in 1962, it ruined the town and
continues to burn today. Some of the biggest city-related fires are The Great
Chicago Fire, The Peshtigo Fire (both of 1871) and the Great Fire of London
in 1666.
Casualties resulting from fires, regardless of their source or initial
cause, can be aggravated by inadequate emergency preparedness. Such ha-
zards as a lack of accessible emergency exits, poorly marked escape routes,
or improperly maintained fire extinguishers may result in many more deaths
and injuries than might occur with such protections.
Radiation contamination
When nuclear weapons are detonated or nuclear containment systems
are abused, airborne radioactive particles (nuclear fallout) can scatter and
irradiate large areas. Not only is it deadly, but it also has a long-term effect
on the next generation for those who are contaminated. Ionizing radiation is
hazardous to living things, and in such a case much of the affected area could
be unsafe for human habitation. During World War II, United States troops
dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As
a result, the radiation fallout contaminated the cities' water supplies, food
sources, and half of the populations of each city were stricken with disease.
The Soviet republics of Ukraine and Belarus are part of a scenario like this
after a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered a meltdown in
1986. To this day, several small towns and the city of Chernobyl remain
abandoned and uninhabitable due to fallout.
Chemical contamination
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