THE ACTIVITIES
LOOK OUT, IT'S HEADED THIS WAY!

Description: Students will learn about six kinds of natural disasters — hurricanes, tornados, drought, electrical rain storms and flooding, blizzards, and earthquakes — and then design emergency plans for hypothetical disaster situations.

GO DIRECTLY TO:

• Goals and Objectives
• Procedure and Teaching Suggestions
• Student Activity
• Extension

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

	Materials and Equipment Internet access

Through the process of research on natural disasters, the students will understand:

• The formation and characteristics of six types of natural disasters and their specific impacts on human life and built environments
• What disaster relief means and involves in terms of human resources, and what relief and emergency measures are implemented for each type of disaster
• About disaster preparedness including how communities prepare before a disaster hits, and how disaster plans are designed and integrated with public and governmental agencies

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PROCEDURE AND TEACHING SUGGESTIONS

This activity will introduce students to what are defined as the world's six types of natural disasters.

A very good Web site, developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, can serve as the primary background information on each.

Students should research other sites to add to their knowledge. Try these:

• http://library.thinkquest.org/16132/frames.html?tqskip1=1&tqtime=0306
• http://www.typhoon.net/" http://www.typhoon.net/
• http://www.usgs.gov/
  Go to the USGS Browse Our Topics box and click to the various disasters listed.

Include a discussion on your school's disaster plan for fire, tornados (if applicable), blizzard (if applicable), etc.

After researching, the students will use their knowledge to write disaster plans for different disasters in hypothetical locations and situations. Assist students with devising a format for their plans. For instance:

• Location of impending disaster
• Population that will be affected
• Task forces of public safety and government agencies that will be deployed
• Is evacuation required? If so, what are evacuation routes and what agencies will be responsible for carrying out the task?
• If no evacuation, what are precautionary and preparedness activities? How will residents maintain utilities, access to hospitals, communications?
• Timeline for preparedness and/or evacuation
• Etc. Encourage students to think through all the necessary components for a plan.

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STUDENT ACTIVITY

After visiting the suggested natural disaster Web sites and others you may have found, begin to focus on the safety tips, emergency procedures and agencies you learned about that are involved in disaster management.

Using a sample format like or similar to the one above, develop a disaster emergency management plan for the following situations:

From 1982 to 1997, North Carolina suffered a net loss of 1,157,000 acres of forest land. —UNCW Chancellor James Leutze Paving the American Dream

Hurricane Elaine

• Location — South Florida, Atlantic coast
• Description of Community — Suburban town 100 miles north of Miami. Moderately populated: 80,000 people in 50 square miles. Low-lying, residential and light industry community with three schools with two main highways serving residential and commercial areas: one 4-lane interstate and one 2-lane county road.
• Status at 2:30 PM — Category 4 storm, moving at 25 miles per hour, located 350 miles SW of Miami, storm diameter is 200 miles.

Tornado

• Location — North Central Oklahoma
• Description of Community — Largely agricultural community, located 85 miles north outside of Oklahoma City: 5,000 people in 65 square miles — livestock barns, farmhouses, trailer parks, 2 small shopping centers, and 2 schools. Two, 2-lane county roads serving the area.
• Status at 9 PM — Three-mile wide funnel on the ground, erratically moving east at 10 mph.

Blizzard

• Location — Denver, Colorado
• Description of Community — Denver: 550,000 people in Denver County, which is 153 square miles. Large urban area, densely populated, major international airport, two interstate highways (N-S and E-W) crisscross the city.
• Status at 4:30 PM — Storm of the Century, dumping 6-7 inches of snow per hour, 30 mph winds from the NW gusting at 60 mph, airport closed, snow and ice accumulation on roads.

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EXTENSION

1. Students make up their own natural disasters and pose them to classmates.
2. Draw up plans for disaster preparedness and/or evacuation for your school and home community.
   

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