Improve your vocabulary and practice your pronunciation with these 12 English words for natural disasters.
hurricane
A hurricane is a large, circular storm with strong winds.
tornado
A tornado is extremely strong winds concentrated in one area.
lightning
When the lightning touches a building, tree, car, or person, we say they have been “struck” by lightning.
forest fire
earthquake
In an earthquake, the ground shakes and cracks. Buildings that are not designed to survive earthquakes are often destroyed.
flood
A flood occurs when it rains a lot, and the water in a river gets so high that it overflows the riverbanks and invades surrounding areas.
tsunami
In a tsunami, the water from the ocean comes in and covers the land. Tsunamis are caused by an earthquake in the middle of the ocean.
drought
A drought is when there is not enough water because it hasn’t rained for a long time.
blizzard
A blizzard is a very strong snowstorm.
avalanche
An avalanche is when a lot of snow falls down the side of a mountain.
landslide / mudslide
A landslide (or mudslide) is when soil, rocks, and/or mud falls down the side of a hill or mountain.
volcanic eruption
When the volcano explodes, the event is called a “volcanic eruption”
Want to increase your vocabulary
& improve your fluency?
