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Covid 19 is not the first pandemic to attack humanity, and won't be the last.   Changes occur in health, society, research and finances.  Kate Fairweather and Co Host Barb Lonsky discuss the side effects and after effects of pandemics on humanity. 

Since it's December, the season of miracles, Kate and Barb discuss miraculous disaster survivals.  Babies and tornados, church members and explosions, airplane crashes and surviving a tsunami are all covered.  Plus there's discussion about surviving childhood in the 1960s.  Merry Christmas

Diane is the CEO of Disasterscope, Inc. and author of Resilient Americans: We May Not Have It All Together But Together We Have It All.  Diane talks about her work as a disaster professional and how she would like to build more compassion into the current disaster response and system. 

Liz Root and I talk to Boxabl CEO Paolo Tirimani about the post disaster housing options he's developed.  

In 1903 the waters around Ithaca, New York became contaminated with typhus.  Typhoid struck both the town and the then young Cornell University. CIIndK0cD16hQnJzzvTE  

With all the COVID 19 stuff going on, many Americans may not be aware that part of our country, Puerto Rico has been suffering devastating earthquakes since the beginning of the year.  Hundreds are unhoused, sleeping in their cars and worried for the next one to hit.  This is after two incredibly destructive hurricanes in 2017 that killed an estimated 1400 to 2900 American citizens, the earthquake swarm of 2020 has caused massive damage to homes, businesses and utilities.  Americans in Puerto Rico could use our help with infrastructure upgrades and repairs, relaxing of restrictive import laws and perhaps even becoming the 51st state. They pay taxes just like the rest of us, but don't have representation in congress. And how fair is that?  

Interview with Disaster Avoidance Professional and author Gleb Tspursky.  We discuss planning a disaster recovery for your business and how to apply those principles to the current pandemic. This is a MUST HEAR!

 After a disaster and before you can move back into your home, you may need immediate emergency housing.  This can be a Red Cross shelter, a mobile home, a tent or one of many other innovative housing ideas.Discussion with Liz Root, Disaster Assistance specialist.

Kate and co host Barb Lonsky discuss the COVID-19 coronavirus, its causes, presentations, treatments, and protection.  Kate has a 40 year background in emergency management with special studies in pandemic response.  Barb has a 35 year medical background of respiratory therapy and accompanying experience with previous viral and other infections. Learn what to do and why you should. And stay safe. 

In our interview with Dr. Richard Oelberger we discuss trauma and its effects on disaster survivors, relief workers and police who encounter these difficult situations. Richard has his own podcast about sports psychology, RichardListens on Spotify and Instagram. 

In the early morning hours of April 27th, 1865, America's biggest maritime disaster occurred just north of Memphis on the Mississippi River.  The riverboat Sultana exploded, killing approximately 2100 recently released Union prisoners on their way home after the war.  It's the biggest little disaster you never heard of. 

Co-Host John Horrell discusses his recent mandatory evacuation from his home for the Kincade fire in Sonoma County California.  John discusses his experience evacuating with three cats, dos and don'ts and strategies for planning and escaping safely.  Image Courtesy LA Times. 

The Great Molasses Flood, sometimes referred to locally as the Boston Molassacre, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. This event killed 21 people and created a 40-foot wave of molasses which buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood. In 2008 the Georgia sugar refinery explosion was an industrial disaster that occurred on February 7, 2008, in Port Wentworth, Georgia. Fourteen people were killed and forty injured when a dust explosion occurred at a sugar refinery owned by Imperial Sugar.  

We've all heard about the deadly influenza outbreak of 1918, but how did it affect real people.  Disaster Tales has gone through local records to find details lost in the overall pandemic.  Archivist Renea Dauntes co-hosts.

On January 12th, 1888 an arctic cold front, the coldest ever measured, raced down the center of the American heartland.  There were far below zero temperatures, windchills measured at -110 F and freezing effects as far south as Brownsville, Texas.  The storm hit the Dakota Territories, Minnesota and Nebraska about the same time children were walking home from school.  This storm was a killer. 

The Branch Davidian siege at Waco in 1993 was a deadly carnival of coincidence, misjudgement and errors.  This is the third and final part of our Waco podcast.  It's part of a collaboration with Home on the Strange podcast host Lynsie Wilson.  You can find Part 1 here:  https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/httpsfeedsbuzzsproutcom291866rss/home-on-the-strange Part 2 is on Disaster Tales and you can find it here: https://disastertales.podbean.com/e/waco-part-2-the-prelude/ We hope you listen to all three parts in order to get the full story. 

Home on the Strange host Lynsie Wilson joins us to discuss the history of the Branch Davidians, the rise of David Koresh, and the circumstances that led over 70 people to their deaths. It remains to this day one of the largest domestic tragedies involving the United States Government, and is still referenced in popular culture regularly. This episode contains graphic content. For early access to part 3, please help support our show by going to Patreon and becoming a patron!  This is part 2.  If you haven't already heard it, go straight to Home on the Strange Podcast for Part 1!

With the advent of nationwide railroad services, Circuses and other entertainment groups took to the railways to travel from city to city. There were many tragic accidents, but in the early twentieth century, the Hammond Rail Disaster and the Con T. Kennedy Circus disaster were among the most deadly. 

Beginning in the spring of 1918 and circling the world three times in the next 18 months, an influenza pandemic killed as many as 50 million people.  The disease killed many more than the ongoing First World War.  Find out why it was called the Spanish Flu and lots of other amazing details.  And thanks for listening. 

On October 8th, 1871, the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, the nation's most deadly wildfire raged through eastern Wisconsin.  The Peshtigo Fire killed an estimated 2,000 Americans.  It left a permanent mark on the Midwest.  (IMPORTANT CORRECTION:  Per listener Neil Miller, Door county is in Wisconsin, not Michigan. Thank you, Neil!)