We purchased most of that equipment because of the catastrophic nature of that disaster.

CNN: FEMA director defends giving away hurricane supplies

And in the days after it did, this nation and all the world bore witness to the fact that the damage from Katrina was not caused just by a disaster of nature, but also by a breakdown of government -- (applause) -- the government wasn't adequately prepared and we didn't adequately respond.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Holds Town Hall in New Orleans

The government's answer to nature's fury is a hierarchy of disaster co-ordinating councils, established at local, regional and national level.

ECONOMIST: No disaster in the Philippines

"We're in the disaster business--disasters of nature or broken homes, or trying to survive, " says Robert Rudd, community relations and development secretary for the Salvation Army in California.

FORBES: The Radical Philanthropist

Roberts added that in times of drought, flood or other forces of nature that hurt farmers, Congress generally passes disaster relief bills that cost billions and are bureaucratic nightmares.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

We can't control nature, but we can and must be prepared for disaster when it strikes.

WHITEHOUSE: The President Speaks on Chile Earthquake

Outliers depicts a world in which nurture trumps nature most of the time, and where financial success (or disaster) emerges out of a series of culturally-generated lucky breaks.

FORBES: What Makes Some MBAs Wildly Successful?