“It was pretty terrifying” the statement most Ralston Valley students answered to being caught in the storm and having to battle their way through the intense time. Many natural disasters hit the Earth each year, from large floods plowing through towns, the intense shake of an earthquake, the giant green cloud twisting through a city, and more.

The amount of catastrophes in the last 20 years has quadrupled, and the amount of people who have been affected is enormous.

Last year, Colorado was hit with one of the worst floods in history, and many Ralston Valley students’ homes were put in jeopardy by the flash flooding.

Students who live in Coal Creek Canyon saw the worst of it, and many had to evacuate and live with friends and family.

Holly Booton and her brother, Jesse, did just that.

Luckily for the Booton’s, their house did not suffer any flooding damage, but that wasn’t the same for the people who lived below her, with driveways ruined, houses underwater, and homes that are still under repair today, over a year after the catastrophe .

“If I had to drive to school it would have taken about two and a half hours,” said Holly, noting that Highway 72, the most direct path to RV from Coal Creek, was washed out and closed for nearly six months.

A year after the flooding the Coal Creek Canyon community has come more together in order to help one another out.

From Colorado floods to California earthquakes, senior Janae Casey experienced the latter in her home in Sunnyvale, California.

It was around 10 p.m. when this particular earthquake struck. Casey was asleep on the top bunk of her bed when her mom came in the room screaming and had to save her from the tumbling bunk.

Casey filled with fear and tears, huddling in the corner of the room with her mom. In complete shock, the aftermath left her empty.

After three, long, grueling minutes of pure terror ended, only a few plates broke and the bunk bed was still in one piece. Casey isn’t afraid of being in another earthquake, but it has made her “more aware of what to do and where to go,” she said.

It’s not only terrifying being in a tornado, but being out on the road and having to race home in order to gain shelter from the massive flat, giant, green cloud.

Senior Nathan Lovato experienced just that when he was a child.

In Kearney, Nebraska it is very flat, and this day began quite nice as the sun shined and few clouds were in the sky.

That calm quickly subsided and the day turned into a complete train wreck with debris flying everywhere.

“During the storm, the sky was green,” Lovato said. “… and the flat giant green cloud was everywhere.”

Luckily for Lovato, he and his family made it to the shelter underneath their house before the tornado came trampling through.

After the tornado, the day resumed, the sun returned and the green cloud was replaced with blue skies.

But now, there were wood chips and debris everywhere, and Lovato’s roof had a few shingles missing.

Terrifying in the moment, when Mother Nature is working, there is no controlling any type of storm.

Just wait it out and hope for the best.