Natural Disasters & Science
This severe weather event is defined as a funnel-shaped cloud of spinning air that must touch the ground to be officially classified.
Tornado
No matter the weather event, you should always have one of these ready, containing items like a flashlight, batteries, and first-aid supplies.
Safety kit
This type of conditional is used to describe a possible situation in the present or future that may or may not actually happen.
Real Conditional
Name two specific signal words or phrases that are commonly used by writers to identify why things happen or the results of an event.
Consequently, Thus, and As a result
This geographic area in the U.S., located between the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains, sees more than 1,000 tornadoes on average each year.
Tornado Alley
This term describes the sudden moving or shifting of the Earth's tectonic plates, causing the ground to shake.
Earthquake
For storms, hurricanes, or tornadoes, you should designate a shelter in this specific type of area on the lowest level of your home.
Safe Room / Interior Room
This type of conditional is used for improbable or impossible situations, such as imagining what you would do if it snowed in July.
Unreal conditional
This term refers to the scale used to measure the size and strength of an earthquake, ranging from 1.0 to 10.0.
Magnitude Scale
This 2017 Category 4 hurricane devastated Houston and taught the lesson that city officials must take storm threats more seriously.
Hurricane Harvey
This "very strong thunderstorm" is the first step in the formation of a tornado and is created by wind shear.
Supercell
This vocabulary word describes food items that are safe to store for a long time without refrigeration, such as canned goods.
Nonperishable
In an unreal conditional sentence, this specific verb form replaces "was" regardless of the subject (e.g., "If I ____ you...").
Were
This natural disaster, often triggered by undersea earthquakes, consists of huge waves that can be over 80 feet high.
Tsunami
This type of pollution was released during Hurricane Harvey when oil refineries and chemical plants were forced to shut down suddenly.
Air Pollution
During an earthquake, these are the smaller tremors that often follow the initial event, usually within an hour but sometimes weeks later.
Aftershocks
This is the recommended action if you feel the ground shake during an earthquake—even if the shaking is only slight.
Drop to the floor (Find shelter and hold on immediately)
This word can be used in a real conditional to mean "if... not" (e.g., "_____ it rains, we will go to the beach").
Unless
Besides human and environmental damage, major hurricanes like Harvey cause "staggering" damage in this category, often totaling billions of dollars.
Economic Impact
This vertical movement of air happens when warm air pushes through cooler air, tilting a horizontal vortex into a vertical position.
Updraft
This specific atmospheric tool is used by weather forecasters to indicate air pressure; very low pressure often signals an approaching storm.
Barometer
When a disaster is too severe to stay home, local governments designate schools or community centers as this type of location for residents.
Shelter / Evacuation Center
In an unreal conditional result clause, you typically use the subject followed by this auxiliary verb (e.g., "I ____ hide in the basement").
Would
This phenomenon occurs when a thunderstorm produces winds blowing in different directions or at different speeds, leading to air rotation.
Wind Shear
After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, residents and city officials realized they hadn't taken the storm's threat seriously enough. What is one "difficult lesson" the city learned regarding how to be better equipped for future disasters?
Quotation MarksTo set aside more emergency funds for faster recovery, or for officials and residents to learn from past mistakes to understand the actual risks of flooding.