Most of these storms and major disasters have been far away from my home and have had no direct impact on me; however, they have each been avidly followed in the news and some details remain in my memory years after they occurred, details which were brought to life again in my research for this book. Several times during the research, another incident would trigger a memory of a train derailment or a bridge collapse. There are many hundreds of other huge disasters that have occurred during my lifetime, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in places like the Philippines and Mexico, terrorist attacks in New York and Oklahoma City; bombs in London subways; hostage taking in Iran; killing of athletes at the Olympics in Sarajevo; shootings at schools in various locations; and the list can go on. Maybe some of these events will crop up in another book in the future.