What Are the Risks?                            Natural Disasters and Emergencies

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   A natural disaster is a natural event that causes

great damage or loss of life. You may live in an area

that has natural disasters, such as hurricanes,

tornadoes, wildfires or floods. You and your family

may have experienced a natural disaster and the

effort to clean up and make repairs after it passed.

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  There are other emergencies that are not natural

disasters that can be serious. A major power outage

can be an emergency situation if power cannot be restored quickly enough to heat homes in cold weather and provide electricity for cooking food.                                                              Image: Volcanic eruption.

  

   The power outage in Texas in February, 2021 was caused by severe winter storms and an unprepared electrical power grid that caused massive failure of Texas’s electrical systems. It was reported that 210 people were killed by the storms’ effects on the power grid and property damage was estimated at $20.4 billion.

 

                                    If you understand what causes a natural                                                disaster or emergency and what health risks                                              can occur because of it, you and your family can                                      be better prepared and stay safe.

                                    Image: Flash flood waters.

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   What are the major disasters of the world? What causes them? What are the hazards and health risks of major natural disasters?

 

  In this activity, you will investigate different types of disasters and emergencies, find out what causes them and the injuries and illnesses that can occur and research ways to prevent them.

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Learning Objectives:

By the end of this activity, you should be able to:

• Explain what causes natural disasters.

• List eight types of natural disasters.

• Describe the health risks that are associated with each type of disaster and what can be done to avoid the risks.   

 

Your Tasks:

1) Choose a type of disaster from the list provided below.  (Your teacher may choose to assign your team’s disaster.)

Earthquakes                                           Power Outages

Volcanic Eruptions                                  Hurricanes

Tornadoes                                               Floods

 Wildfires                                                 Extreme Heat

 

2) Research your assigned disaster and find out what causes that disaster to occur.  

•    What are the causes of the disaster? How does it form?

•    Where does the disaster occur and where does it occur most often?

 

3) Find out what health risks such as injuries and illness are associated with this disaster. Include information on what you can do to prevent the injuries and illnesses.

 

4) Prepare a poster that displays what your research has shown. It should include:

• the cause

• where the disaster occurs most often

• the health risks involved in the disaster

• the most common types of injuries and illnesses resulting from the disaster

• ways you can avoid health risks and injuries

 

Your teacher may have more requirements for your posters. You may be allowed to expand your project to additional posters if you have topics or more information to display.

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5) Present your informational poster to the class.

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