6.3.1

• Natural disasters refer to extreme and catastrophic events caused by natural processes or forces, resulting in significant damage, destruction, and loss of life
• These events occur without human intervention and can have severe impacts on the environment, infrastructure, and communities
• What to do during a hurricane

  1. Listen to local news and weather updates

  2. Follow evacuation orders promptly

  3. Prepare a "go bag"

  4. Stay indoors and away from windows

  5. Have emergency supplies ready
• Hail


  A type of solid precipitation, an individual piece of layered, rounded, or irregularly-shaped ice which is occasionally produced during a thunderstorm
• Tornadoes


  Rotating columns of wind that form during powerful thunderstorms, reaching speeds of up to 500 km/h, narrow, funnel-shaped, and extend from clouds to the Earth's surface

  
• Waterspouts


  Basically the same as tornadoes, the only difference is that the rotating column of wind moves over a body of water

  
• Types of Waterspouts


  • Tornadic Waterspouts
  • Fair-Weather Waterspouts
• Tornadic Waterspouts


  • Start as true tornadoes, influenced by winds associated with severe thunderstorms, most powerful and destructive type

  
• Fair-Weather Waterspouts

  • More common and rarely dangerous, associated with developing storm systems but not storms themselves, the clouds from which they descend are often static

  
• Formation of Tornadoes and Waterspouts

  1. Warm, moist winds clash with cool, dry winds creating instability in the lower atmosphere

  2. Wind direction shifts and speed increases with height, causing horizontal spinning

  3. Updraft adds more warm, moist air, tilting the spinning air vertically to form a tornado

  
• Between 1990 and 2006, the Philippines experienced 46 tornadoes, leading to 14 casualties, 72 injuries, 54 missing individuals, and affecting a total of 38,950 people nationwide

  
• Damage included 1,364 partially damaged houses and 652 totally damaged houses
• Safety tips during a tornado

  • Get in (seek shelter in a sturdy building, preferably the innermost part)
  • Get down (go to the lowest level, such as a basement if available)
  • Cover up (protect yourself from debris)
• Downburst


  A powerful downward rush of air from a thunderstorm that hits the ground and spreads out in all directions, often causing strong and damaging winds in a localized area

  
• Flash Flood


  Happens when intense rainfall from slow-moving thunderstorms overwhelms drainage systems in low-lying areas, especially urban ones, leading to rapid flooding due to saturated soil and impermeable surfaces
• difference between the two