When Nature Attacks 2012

In Seaside Heights, NJ, Hurricane Sandy makes landfall along the Jersey coastline on Oct. 29, ripping the boardwalk to shreds and forcing this rollercoaster to fall into the ocean.

On March 4, a major tornado leaves a path of destruction here in Henryville, IN, and whips through parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia. The EF4 tornado -- a tornado with winds ranging from 166 to 200 miles per hour -- claimed the lives of at least 37 people.

On June 10, a wind-driven wildfire spreads out of control, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes in a canyon near Laporte, CO.

A man shovels snow to access Rt. 7 on Oct. 31, in Hutton, MD. Hurricane Sandy mixed with colder temperatures in higher elevations, dumping as much as 3 feet of snow in some places.

A Buddha statue sits in the debris of a destroyed monastery in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay, Myanmar, after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake rattled the region on Nov. 11.

On Aug. 28, heavy rainfalls caused by Typhoon Bolaven forces drivers to tread through flooded streets in Rongcheng, China. Typhoon Bolaven was the 15th typhoon to hit China this year.

On Oct. 12, workers inspect the damage caused by flooding in Dura Den, Scotland. Many parts of the country were affected by wide spread flooding causing disruption to road and rail travel.

Almost knee-deep in water, tourists sit in Venice’s St. Mark Square after the city’s water level rose 50 inches above its normal level in October.

Trees and storm debris litter a playground in Whenuapai following a tornado that struck the suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, on Dec. 7.

An earthquake survivor stands among the rumble from several houses that were destroyed after 2 powerful earthquakes shook up Azerbaijan, Iran, in August.

A family in Braithwaite, LA, tries to salvage items from their flooded home after Hurricane Isaac triggers life-threatening flooding in Plaquemines Parish in September. Damage totals from the hurricane topped $2 billion and more than 125,000 customers were left without power for as many as 6 days after the storm made landfall.

In November, Australia experiences unseasonably, hot weather. Locals dive off Sydney’s Manly Wharf pier to cool off from high temps, ranging between 86 to 104 degrees.

A resident repairs his damaged house 2 days after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hits the town of General MacArthur on Sept. 2. Families returned to their quake-devastated homes in the central Philippines, ignoring government warnings to relocate away from danger zones.

In August, dozens of wildfires -- including this blaze in Featherville, ID -- char hundreds of thousands of acres and burn across 10 US states, including Nevada and California.

From his airplane seat, former Travel Channel host Dhani Jones snapped this photo of a powerful thunderstorm over NYC -- approximately 10,000 feet in the air.