Jumbled Files

These are the jumbled files from your interviews with disaster survivors.

You can print the page, cut it up, and sort the sentences. If you'd rather work on screen, you can paste the text into a blank document in your word-processing program.

Her family lived in a two-story wooden farmhouse with a basement.

Huge "shock absorbers" were built into the building's foundation.

Last year she and her family fled when the clouds of ash began to blow out of the mountain.

Built of concrete blocks and covered with a sheet metal roof, his house has a wonderful view of the Caribbean Sea .

She said, "It was just like The Wizard of Oz. A huge black cloud covered the sky, and a twister raced across the horizon."

"Summer is great, but it can be scary too. When the rain keeps coming and coming, we know we have to watch the wind. Seventy-four is the magic number. If the wind is going faster than 74 miles [119 kilometers] an hour, we could be in big trouble."

No one in the family was hurt when the house was destroyed, because everyone had sought shelter in the basement.

With millions of inhabitants, the city is incredibly crowded. His family, like many, lives in a tall apartment building.

Her family's home is nestled on a hillside near a large, cone-shaped mountain.

"We stayed in the cave with all our neighbors," he said. "It was actually kind of fun, at least for us kids. After about six hours, we heard a radio announcement saying that it was safe to return home."

The small backpack contained a flashlight, a bottle of water, a few packages of rice cakes, and a comic book.

Meteorologists estimated that the column of air was moving over the plains at about 70 miles (110 kilometers) an hour.

Government officials announced over the television and radio that everyone had to evacuate. He and his family climbed a hill and went into a limestone cave. They carried jugs of water, cans of food, a battery-operated radio, and other supplies.

They piled into a truck and drove for miles.

He was home alone when he felt the floor shake. "I was nervous, but I did just what my parents had told me do. I got my emergency backpack and stood in my bedroom doorway."

When they returned home, everything was covered with fine, gray ash. Cleaning the house took days. She said, "We got back, and I felt like I was on the moon. Everything was gray and barren. But at least we weren't hurt."

Their home was destroyed, and all of the family's belongings were scattered across the countryside for many miles.

Once the building stopped shaking, he walked quickly and quietly down the stairs. He walked to a park away from tall buildings and power lines and waited for his parents.

The farmhouse is in the middle of large fields whose rich, dark soil is good for raising sugarcane.

 

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