新視野大學英語視聽說教程第四冊 Unit 3 Let’s Talk
A natural disaster is the consequence of a hazardous event, occurring when human activities are affected by adverse natural phenomena such as flood, drought, hailstorm, heat wave, forest fore, hurricanes or typhoons, tornado, tsunami, landsides and mudslides, or volcanic eruption. The resulting deaths or property damages depend on the human ability to resist the disasters.
Sometimes two seemingly different disasters may be related to each other. For example, an undersea earthquake may result in a tsunami. While there is a long dry spell in one area, there may be a great flood in another. It is necessary for human beings to understand and combat natural disasters.
A drought is a long-lasting weather pattern consisting of dry conditions with very little or no precipitation. During this period, food and water supplies can run low, and other condition, such as famine, can result. Drought can last for several years and are particularly damaging in areas in which the residents depend on agriculture for survival.
A flood follows too much rain or water in a location, and could be the result of many different conditions. Floods can be caused by heavy rainfall from a storm, including thunderstorms, rapid melting of a large amounts of snow, or rivers which swell10 from too much precipitation upstream, causing widespread damage to areas downstream. Another possible cause of a flood is the bursting of man-made dams.
