Since the birth of the written word, and possibly beforehand, stories of natural disasters have been told. Almost every culture in all parts of the globe have a story of a natural disaster that wiped out a civilization; ranging from the “Epic of Gilgamesh” to the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah to the story of the destruction of Atlantis. These stories, whether fictional or non-fictional, all have speak something important about the human psyche. They all function as cautionary tales of a power that is beyond the control of man – mother nature and her sometimes deadly fury. All of the disaster stories of all history have an overtone of anxiety against nature in which, at any given moment, everything can be taken away from civilization in an instant. That anxiety regarding a natural disaster is manifested different to according to culture; the Sodomites and the Gommorans were punished for their moral egregiousness. Atlantis succumbed to inevitable flooding despite their advanced intellect and technology. Gilgamesh was a demigod who is tragically humbled and made mortal by the wrath of nature. Regardless of the question of human morality, what unifies all of these stories is that the civilizations were overconfident and thus ill-prepared for what nature can throw at them. Every year over trillions of dollars are spent on reconstruction from and prevention of natural disasters, and extreme weather and geologic activity still kill thousands of people and destroy trillions of dollars worth of property annually. But what is a natural disaster? And how can one prepare for the worst but remain free enough to take the risks neccessary to innovate and create better ways to prepare for them. This question looms heavily on the minds of the victims of natural disasters and the governments of countries affected by natural disasters.