I'm late for the discusssion, but I'll throw the opinion I've come to:
There's no "evil" in nature, for "evil" implies an intention, a design. There's no such thing in the natural world, an intent to hurt, to cause pain and destruction. Nature is what it is, there is pain, there is fear, there is anxiety, bad things happen, disasters happen, living beings get caught in it. Although irrational beings such as mammals can certainly feel pain and fear and stress, they don't question "why am i suffering?", or "is there a purpose to my troubles?". Only an intelligent being like man with the capacity to think in abstract terms, would question himself about that. Death, ageing, illness, disaster, always have been present in nature. God didn't "create" them, they are the random part of the game of life.
When mankind developed enough intelligence to become interesting to God, He decided to elevate this species to a higher status, that of "sons of God". hence, he created the first "homo Sapiens" couple gifted with that ability, Adam and Eve, who would eventually propagate such gift to all mankind. Thus, the life that God intended for man, once his earthly life was naturally over, was to live the true life in the spiritual realm as one of the spiritual sons of God. When that purpose was messed up by the disobedience of that couple who lost their sonship status with God, He has found an alternative means to still accomplish his purpose for his earthly children. In the meantime, God stepped aside, and refreined from interfering with the free will of man. He has put in motion his plan for reconciling mankind with himself, through faith in Jesus.
I don't know if my view deserves a number in Cofty's list, but the way I see it, God has nothing to do with natural disasters; they aren't a "design flaw", because God never intended for material life to be "perfect", in the sense of being optimal, eternally enjoyable, eternally good. It happens to people what happens to every other living being in nature: they are born, they grow up, they mature, they reproduce, they age and then die. Accidents happen all the time, in every place, and God doesn't cause them, doesn't stop them, no one is to blame for them. Life happens. Death happens. What God ensures is salvation for those who put faith in his salvation through Christ. The true life will be attained in the spiritual realm. Until then, we can make the most of the time we live on the face of the earth to learn about love and compassion, enjoy this life and its gifts the best we can, and prepare ourselves for what comes in the realm where natural disasters don't happen - the heavenly realm.
It's not that God doesn't care. He does. He simply decides not to intervein and let life happens and people handle its challenges. He gives hope to those intelligeng enough to grasp it and those faithful enough to want it.
Eden
