FEMA: Are You Ready?

You may need to survive on your own after a disaster. This means having your own food, water, and other supplies in sufficient quantity to last for at least three days. Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in hours, or it might take days.

Basic services such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment, and telephones may be cut off for days, or even a week or longer. Or, you may have to evacuate at a moment’s notice and take essentials with you. You probably will not have the opportunity to shop or search for the supplies you need.

A disaster supplies kit is a collection of basic items that members of a household may need in the event of a disaster

FEMA: Are You Ready?

Asian Tsunami

An earthquake on Boxing day, December 26, sent huge waves crashing into 11 Asian countries, wiping out entire communities. It's estimated that 5 million people have been made homeless by the disaster. British people have so far donated £76m to the fund to help the survivors. Students learn how the tsunami started, how people have been affected and what they can do to help.

CBBC Newsround | Teachers | Citizenship 11 14 | Subject areas | Globalisation Environmental | Asian Tsunami

Tsunami links

BBC “Asia quake disaster – in depth” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2004/asia_quake_disaster/default.stm

Home page for BBC News reports on the 26/12/04 earthquake and subsequent Tsunami damage. BBC Asia Earthquake Disaster

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/specials/2004/asia_earthquake_disaster/default.stm

BBC home page for reports aimed more at children.

BBC “Tsunami among world's worst disasters”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4128509.stm

Article with brief descriptions comparing effects of various natural disasters since 1500s.

CNN “Waves of Destruction”

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/tsunami.disaster/

Home page for CNN reports.

ABC News Tsunami page

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Tsunami/

Home page for ABC News reports.

Guardian Unlimited – Special Report

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tsunami/0,15671,1380306,00.html

Links to features and resources. Animations very useful. (May be slow to load.)

Earth Observatory – Natural Hazards

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=12640

Map of epicentre, immediate plate boundaries and aftershocks.

BBC animated guide

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4136289.stm

Slides with (limited) animation showing affected area, formation of tsunami and results.

BBC “How the quake unfolded”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/asia_pac_asia_earthquake_explained/html/1.stm

Illustrated description of the event. (7 “slides”)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration animation

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/video/tsunami-indonesia2004.mov

5.8Mb QuickTime animation showing shockwaves spreading across complete Indian Ocean area.

AIST animation

http://staff.aist.go.jp/kenji.satake/animation.gif

1.1Mb animated GIF. (Plays in browser but can also be downloaded for more “controlled” viewing in a graphics package that supports this type of file.) Shows time after initial quake.

Discovery Channel animation of Indonesian tsunami

http://media.dsc.discovery.com/news/media/tsunami_wmp.html

PBS “Savage Earth – waves of destruction”

http://www.thirteen.org/savageearth/animations/tsunami/index.html

3 Flash slides with description.

US Geological Survey http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/tsunami/stoch_low.html

2.2Mb QuickTime movie of theoretical tsunami off US Pacific coast.

Federal Emergency Management Agency tsunami “Fact Sheet”

http://www.fema.gov/hazards/tsunamis/tsunamif.shtm

A variety of useful resources including information on past tsunamis, FAQs and “Great Waves” brochure.

ITIC “Great Waves” brochure

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/pr/itic/library/pubs/great_waves/tsunami_great_waves.html

Excellent resource for download (large Acrobat file – 9.8Mb) or online viewing. Photos and diagrams useful for all ages.

Federal Emergency Management Agency “Tsunami for Kids”

http://www.fema.gov/kids/tsunami.htm

Limited information but interesting “Tsunami Warning” storybook. (See link on left of page.)

 

The tsunami in the Indian Ocean

The tsunami in the Indian Ocean has touched the lives of many people around the world. The GA offers its condolences to all those who have been affected by the tragedy. We also recognise that in events like this, it is the role of geography to help young people understand and make sense of what has happened.

Geographical Association - Past Themes - The tsunami in the Indian Ocean