what is the worst weather distaster you have lived through

@SW-User You're an Aussie?
You have my commiserations.
How has your recovery been?

I remember Black Saturday.
We were thousands of miles away from it, up in the Northern Rivers of NSW,
but the brown smoke from the fire covered the entire sky,
and the sun shining through it was blood red.
Breathing the air was horrible.

@hartfire I was living in South West outskirts of Melbourne at the time it was like the four horsemen rode over our sky, we did not see a blue sky with white clouds, the whole sky was peach orange and as you described the sun was blood red and the only clouds in the sky was the black smoke from the fires which surrounded Melbourne from Mt Dandenong, Kinglake, both interstate highways M31 and M79 were closed off no one could get in or out because even the fire spread across the whole northern outskirts too.

@SW-User Relieved for you that you were not one of the people living in the fire's path.
Even so, it was horrible to see people's devastated lives. I had to close my mind to the fates of the livestock, wildlife, and beloved pets -- it was too painful to contemplate.

The improvements to early warning systems and emergency services strategies and resources are a good start.
But I wonder why we don't hear more about mandatory adoption of the Aborigines' technique of using small grass fires in cool, slightly damp weather to burn off in a patchwork pattern. It renewed fertility, reduced the build-up of dried vegetative fuels, and our temperate ecosystems have evolved to need that treatment in order to thrive.

@hartfire I had a family friend who lost everything in amongst those fires. All of Marysville and the black spur perished in flames. They were dodging fireballs, literally.