Disaster facts for kids
A disaster is something bad that happens to people and almost always changes their lives completely. Disasters can destroy homes and many kinds of work. Disasters can be of different kinds, but most are caused by forces of nature.
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Natural disasters
These may include avalanches (where snow comes down a mountain), cold (where animals and people freeze), diseases (sicknesses), droughts (when there is no water), earthquakes (where the ground moves), famine (where there is not enough food), fire that burns things and people, flood (where rivers grow too big and invade land), hail (hard ice falls like rain), heat that lowers the water supply, hurricanes that break everything, the hyper nova of a star that kills life, an impact event where meteors hit the earth, a limnic eruption (where bad chemicals come from lakes and can kill people), landslides and mudslides (where the top of the ground moves because of extra water), sink holes (where a cave falls in), solar flares (where the sun reaches out at the earth and burns it), storm surge (where water piles up and then suddenly comes on land), thunderstorms (rain with lightning and thunder), tornadoes (currents of wind that break things), tsunami (where a wall of water comes on land), volcanoes (where lava from inside the earth comes out slowly or shoots into the air), a waterspout (like a tornado on water), or winter storms (where snow falls thick and you cannot see).
Human-caused disasters
Disasters caused by humans include aviation (flying) accidents, arson (lighting a fire to burn something), CBRNs (where a country has a powerful weapon), civil disorder (where people riot or do crimes), power outages (where electricity is interrupted), public relations crises where a company must tell bad news, radiation accidents, disasters in space, a telecommunications outage (not being able to communicate), terrorism (where a group attacks civilians or says they will attack to gain something), and war (fighting with weapons between large groups).
Living through a disaster
To live through a disaster, it is important that your family and your city prepare in advance. This may be making a pack of things you need in an emergency, it may be a government sending soldiers to help, or it may be something in between. It is recommended to keep a disaster survival kit with canned goods, in the advent of such a disaster.
Conspiracy theories
Theories vary widely about the cause of world disasters, and while most are controversial, the number of followers that they attract show that there is perhaps some merit behind them. One notable theorist is named Fei Weixiang. Fei's theory centers around the idea that all world disasters stem from a single source. He believes he has tracked the source to Beijing, where he currently resides.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Ruins from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, remembered as one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States
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Painting of the Cathedral and the Academy building after the Great Fire of Turku, by Gustaf Wilhelm Finnberg, 1827
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Haiti earthquake damage
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Driving through flash flood
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Airplane crashes and terrorist attacks are examples of man-made disasters: they cause pollution, kill people, and damage property. This example is of the September 11 attacks in 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York City.
See also
In Spanish: Desastre para niños
