I like the idea of using natural disaters to help educate students about how they occur as well as how to become better citizens.  Here in West Palm Beach, Florida we tend to talk alot about hurricanes and flooding, the two major natural disasters that we have here.  There was a hurricane here in 1925 that caused Lake Okeechobee to overflow.  When this happened it wiped out several communities. and killed thousands of people.  The reason that this hurricane is so important to talk about is not the loss of life and destruction but the reaction of the government and people who were in charge.  They decided that the deceased minority people should be shipped here to West Palm Beach and buried in a mass grave (no coffins, etc...).  Family members of the deceased were not allowed to look for their loved ones or bury them themselves.  Deceased white people were given back to their families for burial.
The grave site is still here in West Palm Beach.  It has been built over and the bodies dug up a few times and moved around.  A few years ago the community asked to make the site a park and recreate an area for the dead to rest.  It is amazing that the disaster happened less than 100 years ago.  I like to take my Marine Science class to this park when we talk about how the ocean can affect weather.  I remind them that although we appear to be integrated these days the school district of Palm Beach County was not desegregated until 1970.  We have a long way to go when it comes to inequalities and they often become apparent when we have a disaster.  Reminding them of this and educating them on racial issues is important in preparing them to be better citizens.