I will never forget the Pacific Northwest Heat Dome of 2021. https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/hottest-day-history-seattle-heat-dome-2021

Probably the most impactful and disruptive natural disaster in my memory. The next closest would be the Southern California power outage in 2011 and the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.

"Dr. Jeremy Hess: Not only do we need to prepare for the next extreme event that’s beyond our historical experience, but we need to prepare for the June 2021 events, coupled with a few dayslong regional power outages, and maybe a smoke event thrown in. And we’re really not doing that."

Heavy smoke event is kind of like the pandemic compressed and running in fast-forward. The air all around you is trying to kill you and you need a solid mask to avoid it. Whereas with the pandemic you can't safely go to places with a lot of people, with smoke you can't even leave your house and being in your house might not be enough if you don't have good seals and filtration.