Disasters

Lesson 8

addiction to
in response to
information on/about
knowledge of/on
have no difficulty in
solution to/for
experience in
give advice on
a rise in
damage to
in search of
to search for
attitude to
a recipe for
control of/over

Lesson 7

100 years after Titanic 

The ship that sank 100 years ago, on April 15th, after crashing into an iceberg, was named Titanic. But it had several nicknames: The Unsinkable Ship, The Last Word in Luxury, The Millionaire’s Special, The Wonder Ship, and The Ship of Dreams. History tends to repeat and a century after the Titanic’s shipwreck, it was the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia that ran aground off the Italian shores last week. On board were 4,229 people. Survivors are saying that Celine Dion’s song from the Titanic was playing in a restaurant on the cruise ship as it started going down.

So how do the two shipwrecks compare?

·         The Titanic struck an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Costa Concordia was shipwrecked in a populated area 20 metres from shore.

·         The Titanic sank in below freezing waters so people died within 10 to 15 minutes after entering the water. The waters at the Costa Concordia sinking were relatively warm.

·         The Titanic’s deaths toll was 1,517. There were 705 survivors. The Costa Concordia’s death toll is 17. Several people are missing. 

·         The Titanic went down within two hours of striking an iceberg. Half of the Costa Concordia remains above sea level and is at rest.

·         The Titanic did not have enough lifeboats and the rescuing ship Carpathia was four hours away. The Costa Concordia was immediately surrounded by a helicopter and a fleet of pleasure and fishing boats.

Philippines at Risk Again

Landslides caused by heavy rain buried a village on the Philippine island of Mindanao on Monday killing six people, disaster officials said.

Last month, 5 people were killed in a similar landslide in the southern Philippines. Across the country, communities are at risk from landslides during the Philippines rainy season, which usually starts in May and lasts until December.

Last year, at least 1,850 were killed or declared missing and tens of thousands were left homeless and without livelihoods after several typhoons crashed into the centre of the country.

Governor Schwarzenegger Declares Emergency

Two separate fires are still burning in California’s wild lands, officials say. A third fire erupted 60 miles away Thursday afternoon.

“Each time we have one of these fires in California, it points up the need to prevent such disasters. When you have houses built in a fire-prone area, you’re asking for trouble. The houses are extremely vulnerable surrounded by dead trees and bush.”

So far several multimillion-dollar mansions and a small college have suffered damage in the celebrity area in California. Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Michael Douglas and Arnold Schwarzenegger all have houses in the danger area.

“It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world,” Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter said. “If we weren’t here, the whole neighbourhood would go up”.

Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency. “It’s tragic time in California,” he said.

Tornado Hits

At least 89 people have been killed after a tornado hit the city of Joplin in the US state of Missouri, officials have said. Homes and businesses were destroyed and a hospital damaged. Power lines are down and telephone connections are largely cut off. The tornado caused fires around the city overnight.

The Governor of Missouri has declared a state of emergency and warned that more storms are on the way.

Cities in three other Midwestern states have also been badly affected. Last month, tornadoes and storms killed at least 350 in Alabama and six other southern states.

The Red Cross opened a shelter at the local University for victims.

New York in Danger

Hurricane Irene officially made landfall in New Jersey. There is a danger of flooding; the strong wind continues to cause tree damage. Coastal areas will be hit by large waves and a powerful storm.

There are hurricane warnings for New York and Long Island.

Moscow Choking

Russian health officials are warning people in Moscow to stay inside as smog from the worst wildfires in modern Russian history fills the city. Smoke is spreading through Moscow's streets, getting into the Metro network, and some people are wearing face masks indoors. Air pollution is terrible. According to some experts, inhaling the polluted air is as dangerous as smoking several packets of cigarettes a day. Daytime temperatures in Moscow remain close to 40C. Reports suggest it leads to a 30% rise in the city's mortality rate in July. The national death toll due to wildfires is 52. Up to 2,000 homes have been destroyed in the blazes, officials say.

Nearly 560 fires were still burning across central Russia as of Friday. Of these, 39 were peat bog fires, 27 of them in the Moscow region alone, accounting for the acrid smoke choking the capital.

Heatwave in Canada and USA

A massive heatwave has hit the USA and parts of Canada. People are exposed to temperatures up to 37C. Half the US population has been told that the heat in their area could be dangerous, and it's thought 22 people have died. Unfortunately, there's no sign of the intense weather disappearing until Sunday. Canadians who usually take cool summer weather for granted are especially affected.  

Heat combined with humidity makes it hard for the human body to cool itself. In New York City, children have been out playing in park fountains and even burst water pipes in the street to cool down.

It’s not only humans who suffer. Crops do not get enough water and more than 1,500 cattle have died in South Dakota because of the high temperatures.

New Year Bang

Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily has had its first eruption of 2012. Despite the big bang and impressive fireworks, no damage was done.

Another Disaster in Haiti

A powerful earthquake has hit the Caribbean island of Haiti.  Thousands of people are feared dead. Haiti was especially vulnerable because it’s the poorest country in the western half of the world and it hasn’t been able to prepare for big earthquakes.

The earthquake reached 7,0 on the Richter scale and the aftershocks of 5,0 each resulted in even more damage.

Haiti is a disaster-prone country: floods and earthquakes are common here. Haiti is regularly hit by devastating hurricanes, which means that people there have experience in dealing with large natural disasters. However, shortage of clean water and lack of sanitation spell an even bigger disaster – an epidemic. Consequences are hard to predict.

Emergency aid is being sent to the area and people from all over the world are donating money to help Haiti.  

Lesson 5

to starve to death - умирать голодной смертью
crops - зерновые, с/х культуры; crop - урожай
shortage of - lack of
to lack smth
emergency - чрезвычайное положение, авария, непредвиденный случай
aid=assistance, help
emergency aid - скорая (неотложная) помощь
to claim - уносить жизни
irrigation - орошение

Lesson 4

to affect=to have an effect (impact, influence) on, to touch, to influence, to cause damage

to be affected by

affected - пострадавший

lack of = shortage of

to warn of (about, against)

to take smth for granted - принимать что-то как должное

I'm shocked that...

I feel deeply saddened by ...

I'm also angry that ...

I feel for everyone who has been affected by this.

My heart goes out to them.

Do the crossword Natural Disasters

Lesson 3

humid - humidity

sea level

rise-rose-risen

to lead to (led)

to result in

pollution - to pollute

to be prone to

to cause damage

to be vulnerable to

blackout

to protect ... from ...

Lesson 2

Sicily - Сицилия

ash, to produce ash - пепел

pumice - вулканическая пемза

Genoa - Генуя

sanitation - санитария

to have a vaccine for

to ravage - разорять

Marseille - Марсель

reign - господство, царствование

weapon - оружие

to collide with - collision - столкнуться, столкновение

to throw ... into the air

extinct - вымерший (о животных, растениях); потухший (о вулкане)

to become extinct=to die out

severe - суровый, строгий (=strict)

blood-sucking insects - кровососущие насекомые

meteor

lava

Asteroid

the bubonic plague

plague=disaster, e.g. plague of rats

bring to a standstill

a big meteorite crashed into Earth

bring devastating changes in

devastating=destructive, destroying

produce dust and debris ['deibri:]

debris - scattered pieces of rubbish and remains, ruin, waste

Lesson 1

disaster=catastrophe
volcano - pl. volcanoes, volcanos
tornado - pl. tornadoes, tornados
volcanic eruption=volcanic explosion
landslide=mudslide, landslip
typical of
nuclear accident
war
epidemic
avalanche

Idioms
a disaster of epic proportions (epic - огромный, грандиозный)
the eye of the hurricane - центр урагана
calm before the storm - затишье перед бурей
to sit on a volcano
to spell disaster (spelt, spelled) - сулить беду
a disaster area - зона (район) бедствия
is a recipe for disaster - верный путь к катастрофе