The Disaster In geology, it would be known as a debris flow. Debris flows amass in stream valleys and more or less resemble fresh concrete. They consist of water mixed with a good deal solid material, most of which about sand size. Some of it is Chevorlet size. Boulders grouped like fish eggs pour quickly down the hill in debris flows. The dark material coming toward the Genofiles was not only of boulders; it was so full of automobiles that it was like bread dough mixed with raisins. Making its way down Pinecone road, it plucked up cars from driveways and the street, when it crashed into the Genofiles house, the shattering of glass made a terrific explosive sounds. A door opened cautiously and nervously. A figure slowly gazed into the chaos and distraction that followed the debris. Not fully comprehending what was going on; awe and horror slowly set in as the figure ran for the telephone. …show more content…
In less than twenty minutes the authorities had been notified of the disaster that was going on, but that was twenty more minutes of anxious waiting for the four Genofiles; Stewart, Jill, Mom, and Dad.
“What are we going to do,” cried Stewart,” We’re all going to die!” Jill started to wail into the rumbling of the flow. “Calm down, both of you! Remember what the radio said, everything will be okay,” Mom exclaimed. The radio that had sat in their swept away living room, had ordered them to stay calm and get to high ground. Stewart continued, unfazed by his Mom’s orders,”Those boulders could tear this house apart! How are we going to be okay!?” Jill’s wailing stopped in shock, then continued even louder than before. Mom calmly answered,” We will be okay; the authorities will come for us.” At that moment the house shook ominously. A cracking sound shook the house and everyone on it to their very core. The house sagged violently to one side tossing the occupants to the edge of the
roof. A helicopter slowly circled the neighborhood. “Mom look,” shouted Stewart, “We’re going to be okay!” The house rocked form the powerful tide of the debris flow. The Genofiles began to wave and shout frantically; as a result the helicopter turned and made another fly-by seemingly seeing the family. On the National Guard helicopter the Genofiles watched all the houses, much like theirs, destroyed underneath them. The family slowly relaxed and Jill’s crying slowly stopped and slowly turned into snoring. Finally landing in a National Guard base the Genofiles are met hospitably by the base’s occupants. In the morning Mom called Grandma and arranged for the Genofile family to stay with her, after the call was made Mom went to fine Stewart, who she thought was still a little traumatized from the event. As she wondered the building they were staying in she heard laughter emanating from the cafeteria. Surrounding Stewart a crowd stood laughing as he continued to explain,” I remember being the last one on the house, forcing them to take my family first.” Mom looked at Dad standing silently in the corner, and raised her eyebrows. Dad just smiled and shrugged his shoulders, Later that night while lying in bed Dad looked at the rest of the room where the rest of his family lay. He was so glad that they were each okay, Mom, Stewart, and Jill he looked at each one of them lovingly, and slowly drifted into sleep his little girl cuddled up in his embrace.
In Susan Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It, life for Miranda and her family comes to a screeching halt after a meteor collides with the moon, triggering calamitous natural disasters. After the initial tragedy, humanity is left with unanswered questions, to which no one seems to have answers for. As a result, Miranda must forget about her normal, mundane life and focus on the hardship ahead of her and her family. With her world collapsing around her, she is left with choices and responsibilities that affect her loved ones as much as herself. Through literary devices, Pfeffer emphasizes the emotional struggles and physical battles Miranda must surmount before and after the misfortunate collision.
As mountain ranges began to reappear, streams and rivers became more vibrant with rushing waters transferring boulders and gravels to different places on the surface of Earth. Water is known to be one of the most significant factors of the Exhumation of the Rockies; however wind is thought to have played an important role in the removal of the mountains from the depths of debris as well. As John David Love has said, “Wind erosion has tremendous significance in this part of the Rocky Mountain region” (McPhee 60). Consistent southwest winds, blowing in the same direction throughout each time period of the Earth’s history, picked up thousands of feet of debris from the surface of the Earth and carried it away into the Atlantic Ocean. The work of erosion through water and wind has given the landscape its
In the novel, a father had thoughtfully kept himself and his son some bread, but after his son saw he was hiding the bread, even though his father had him some too, the son attacked his father. The son didn’t care that his father had him bread aswell, he wanted it all to himself, so he could have more. In order to do so, the boy killed his father and took the bread for himself. Next, in New York City, an earthquake occurred and everyone inside of the buildings that were being demolished, falling in, etc all reacted differently to the situation. Some froze, others just screamed, and several other things.
...eing there, all of these factors has a negative tole on Josh. Bradford explains, "As I bent to pick it up the earthquake tilted the house another then degrees,causing me to lose balance and fall. I got up and banged the side of my first on their door. Earthcake!" (168). Josh is so drunk that he starts to halucinate that there is a real life earthquake occuring. When in reality it is just the effect of alcohol on him. If Mr. Arnold did not leave for the navy, Josh would of not of hallucinated there is an earthquake, he would of not fallen and lose balance, and his speech would not become slurred. Josh screams, "earthquake" to get everyones attention, but they all just look at him like he is crazy. Mr. Arnold's son is not only faced with negative consequences due to his leave, but also positive ones that help him gain skills that he would of not acqiured without this.
Tragedy, however, almost strikes as the narrator takes this break from reality. As the family reaches Miles City, Montana, the two young children become captivated by the thought of swimming in a refreshing pool. No adults are aloud into the pool area during the lunch break, but the children are still able to take a swim with the lifeguard present. As the narrator steps out of sight, the youngest girl’s curiosity captures her, and she almost drowns in the pool. Meg had nearly submerged before the mother had a vague premonition that something on this afternoon is very wrong. Running toward the pool, the girl’s parents reach her in time, but this incident seeps much deeper as the mother gains wisdom and identity from the experience.
The T.V. starts flashing, a red banner with the word ‘urgent’, a woman's voice starts talking. “This is a PSA for the town of Lassellsville and surrounding areas. There is said to be a strange man on a rampage running through the town, he is believed to be infected with a new virus called H1N1, please stay inside for your safety, we will keep you updated as much as possible. Police are on the lookout for Juan Carlos Jr.,” a picture of a Hispanic man with red eyes, dark brown hair, and missing teeth popped up on the t.v. “please if you see this man refrain from contact, he is dangerous, I repeat he is dangerous.” Everyone looked at each other, “oh god” John said. “Lock the doors,” Katherine said. So they locked the doors and kept the news on to keep updated. A few hours past and the fear subsided and so did any buzz they had gotten. The news comes back on and they still hadn't found the guy when all of a sudden the tv went off and so did the lights. It was totally dark. “Friggin Christ, you gotta be kidding me” Jacob uttered. “I got this. the generator is right outside”, Gabriella said and started towards the door, there came a knock. Everyone froze. Terror filled the
The faded voices of choir singers are muffled by a roaring explosion. The sounds from the crumbling building spread down the block. Worn-down bricks, knocked out from underneath each another. Shards of colored glass, shot into the air. Chucks of wood and rubbish litter the sidewalk. Thick smoke and fearful screams saturate the air. A mother’s worse nightmare.
It was silent as Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife Tessie and force the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it. Bill Hutchinson seemed as if he had no heart or compassion for Tessie as he raised up the slip of paper, that created a general sigh of relief from the crowd, But Tessie was afraid you could hear it in her voice as she screamed, ‟Please no this isn’t fair!” As they back her into a corner her. ‟ No stop please I have a family.” or so Tessie thought they were her family, but she thought to herself would family do such an inhuman thing?, but as for the rest of the village they were relieved as everyone in the village started to grab stones. Little Davy Hutchinson with no clue what was going on runs to his mother,
All day, Booger and Lint have been hearing weird noises coming from the floor. Not knowing what it was, they just ignored it thinking it was a minor earthquake. The first time they heard the weird noise was when they were at the gas station getting some milk, everyone ran franticly in shock and fear. But it seemed to stop so they went out to dinner.
“I was always a trouble maker in school and some of my teachers had my mother’s phone number on speed dial.” It is unbelievable that this statement was made by this quiet guy in front of me. His name is Alex Paquette. Alex was born in Los Angeles and he lived in Glendora for a few years. When he was five years old, his whole family moved out to Walnut Creek because his mother got a job in San Francisco. Moving from a big city to a relatively smaller town might seem like a big thing to a five-year-old child, but he felt glad instead as he no longer had to worry about the earthquakes. It was a regular morning, his house started shaking without any warning while everyone was still on bed. In the next second, he could hear that everything was falling off the shelves and his bunk bed was swaying. Luckily, they managed to rush out the house in time and no one was injured. However, most of their belongings had broken. This is the most serious earthquake Alex had experienced and probably the closest moment between life and death in his life so far.
Debris flows consist of loose mud, sand, soil, rock, and water that travel down a slope because of gravity. Broken rocks and heavy rainfalls are two of the main factors that cause debris flows.The San Gabriel Mountains were created because of the movement of the Pacific plate and the North American plate along the San Andreas Fault. As the two plates slide past each other, which is known as transform boundary, earthquakes occur along the fault. These earthquakes along the fault lead to the destruction of the San Gabriel Mountains producing more rocks and debris for potential debris flows. This shows that the energy from the Earth’s interior which cause the tectonic plates to move (in this case slide past each other) causes earthquakes which loosens up the rocks, producing more debris for the debris flows in San Gabriel Mountains. This is a cyclical process called the cycle of erosion which could also lead to the creation of mountains over long periods of time which is why it can be referred to as a cyclical process. Also another factor that leads to debris flows is heavy rainfalls, which, as discussed before is cause by the sun’s energy. The energy from the sun causes water to turn into water vapor and rise to form clouds which then condenses to form rain. This is a cyclical process known as the hydrological cycle and is caused by the
She yelled, “I can’t take it anymore. The noise, the same old routine day and night, and the constant fear of being killed. I just can’t take it. I have to stay cooped in this house knowing that everyone else is dead.”
His breathing was heavy, and his heart rate had increased tremendously. He tried to calm down, but he couldn’t seem to settle. He quickly walked to his bedroom and grabbed the bottle of whiskey to calm his nerves. He still didn’t relax even as he took quite a few large gulps before he put it away. He sat at the bed and stared at the wall. His breathing relaxed as did his heart rate. He noticed that the wall began taking a new color. It had started to blacken, a deep despairing black that seemed to grow and creep steadily along the wall. In some parts, it began to crack. The cracks seemed to stem from the areas in which he had repaired it a few months back. He’d have to redo it eventually. Or maybe, he would die before the wall fell. He had soon hoped that he would. The exciting days of youth had left him as he became stiff from a tumble down the stairs. Walking was a struggle for him, and it bothered him to walk upstairs to his bedroom so for the most part he slept in his desk chair. He doubted that he would have the strength to fix the wall at all, and with Miss Julia gone there was no sense in even
As I exit the truck I can see panic in everyone’s eyes and hear crying as people watch the house in flames. There was fire everywhere; the roof was on fire, fire was coming through the windows and doorways. There was a very strong smell that took over the whole street, like melted materials and scorched
We ran around the apartment that night. Our minds clouded with energized excitement and smiles upon our faces. Her mother wasn’t home that night, it was a weekend, so we were being extra loud. Our laughter and shouts were to be clearly heard by the other with purposes of reminding the other of our mission.