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The Disaster Twins ● The Disaster Twins ● The Disaster Twins

Want to learn more aboutdisasters? Want to find out what disasters

could happen in your state? Want tobecome a FEMA Disaster Action Kid?

Then visit the FEMA for Kids Web site, atwww.fema.gov/kids.

To learn more about fire safety, visitwww.usfa.fema.gov/kids.

Letter frLetter frLetter frLetter frLetter from the FEMA Dir

om the FEMA Dir

om the FEMA Dir

om the FEMA Dir

om the FEMA DirectorectorectorectorectorDear Young Friends:I am pleased that the Federal Emergency

Management Agency is able to bring you the

adventures of Julia and Robbie, the Disaster

Twins. These stories will teach you important

actions to take in a natural disaster. These stories

also include ways you can prepare for disasters

and lessen the chance they’ll cause damage. We all

must take responsibility for making our commu-

nities safer. By reading these stories you are taking

the first step! The second is finding out more

about disasters through the FEMA for Kids Web

site. Go to www.fema.gov/kids and start learning

more today!

Best wishes,

Joe M. Allbaugh


Julia and Robbie: The Disaster Twins

Robbie and Julia are twins. Theylive in Eenietown and attend

Booksin School. They have many palsand a teacher named Mrs. Fletcher.(Robbie likes spelling. Julia likes his-tory.) Their dog is named Skipper.

Robbie and Julia like playing at re-cess and riding their bikes. They like towear jeansand get dirtyand go tobirthday par-ties. They areregular kidsexcept forone thing.Everyone inEenietown

calls them the Disaster Twins. Why? Be-cause wherever Robbie and Julia go,natural disasters follow. Fortunately, thetwins and their family are prepared!

By reading their stories, you canlearn what to do during disasters andhow to be ready. Then test your knowl-edge with the quizzes that follow each

chapter. Soturn thepage andjoinRobbie andJulia ontheir ad-ventures asthe Disas-ter Twins!

1


Julia stared out the window and shivered.

“It looks so cold outthere,” she said.

“That’s because it is coldout there,” her mother an-swered.

The sky outside their win-dow was gray and the limbs ofthe bare trees shook in thewind. Icicles hung from theeaves of the house. About afoot of snow was already onthe ground.

The JanuaryBlizzard

CHAPTER ONE

3


The radiohad announced awinter stormwarning becauseweathercasterswere predictingsevere winter con-ditions. Now thetwins and their

mother were just waiting for the blizzardto arrive.

“I hope Dad gets home soon,” saidRobbie, Julia’s twin brother. “He couldget stuck in the blizzard!”

School had been cancelled, buttheir father had gone to work. The chil-dren were worried and even when Skip-per wagged his tail, they still lookedglum.

So far that day, Julia and Robbiehad finished their homework, watchedtelevision, cleaned their rooms and hadsoup and sandwiches for lunch.

Julia was now setting up the check-erboard, separating the black and redcheckers. But she didn’t really want toplay a game. She looked through thewindow again.

“Why don’t you two go outside andwatch for your father?” asked theirmother.

“I don’t know.It looks too cold,”said Julia.

“You justneed todress inlayers,”said theirmother.

“Likea cake?” Juliasuddenly giggled,even though she knew hermother meant they could stay warm bywearing several layers of clothing.

4


For example, the twins could wear asweater on top of a T-shirt and then puton a vest and then a jacket. Mittens arealso warmer than gloves, their mothersaid, and they need to wear a hat.

“If it’s really cold, a scarf to coveryour mouth is good to protect yourlungs from the cold air,” their motheradded.

“Let’s go outside,” shouted Robbie.Julia agreed.

Once outside, itdidn’t seem like sucha good idea. Evenwith all their layers –it was cold! It hadstarted to snow again.

“Let’s just walkdown the driveway tothe street and back towarm up,” Julia sug-gested.

5


“Maybe we’ll see Dad’s car,” saidRobbie.

Their boots made crunchingsounds against the snow. Their breathcame out in clouds. The snow fell onthem, thicker all the time.

Robbie pretended he was a greatexplorer, searching for the North Pole.

“I know it’s around here some-where,” he teased.

Julia didn’t think hewas funny. Even whenhe was funny, she triednot to show it.

“My nose is cold,”complained Julia. “Do Ihave frostbite?”

Robbie knew thatfrostbite happens whenskin is exposed to verycold temperatures.

“You just need toput your scarf across

your nose to stay warm,” he said.They got to end of the driveway

and looked down the street. It wasempty.

“Where is Dad?” asked Robbie. Heslapped his hands together to stay warm.The snow was falling faster. “I’m wor-ried.”

“What happens if Dad gets stuck inthe snow?” Julia asked.

She looked downthe street again, hopingto see his blue car turnthe corner. But the streetwas still empty. All theparked cars were nowcovered in a blanket ofwhite.

“If you get stuck ina blizzard, you’re sup-posed to stay with thecar,” Robbie saidproudly.

6


Robbie had learned that in school.“You wait for help. You set

the lights flashing and hang adistress cloth,” he added.

Julia huffed. She knewall this. “Yeah, and youneed to clear snow awayfrom the car’s exhaust sowhen you turn on the

engine to stay warm, you don’t get car-bon monoxide poisoning.”

“You think you’re so smart!” Robbie

jumped up and down to stay warm.“I don’t think Dad will mind if we

wait inside,” Julia said and she ran forthe front door.

Inside, it was warm! Theirmother had built a fire and had hotchocolate waiting for them. Skipperbarked in greeting.

“This is a real blizzard,” Juliasaid.

“Probably,” their mothersaid, as she helped them offwith their jackets. “But wehave flashlights, batteries,food, wood for the fireplaceand bottled water. Don’tworry. We’ll be fine.”

Both Julia and Robbiefelt tired from their walk inthe snow.

“I’m taking a nap,” said Robbie. Hefell asleep in front of the fire.

Skipper curled up at his feet.

7


Julia watched the snow fallthicker and thicker outside. Theafternoon grew dark. Still theirfather was not home. What wouldthey do if he got stuck in thesnow? How long would he have towait until he was rescued?

Her eyes started to close. Itwas so warm by the fire. The hotchocolate made her sleepy. Shestruggled to stay awake.

And then sheheard the crunch oftires in the drive-way. Their fatherwas home safe.Now she couldtake a nap by thefire and reallyenjoy the blizzard. Maybe theywould have tomorrow off fromschool, too!

What did you learn?

1. When you go outside in the cold, dress in layers.

True False

2. If you get stuck in your car during a blizzard, you should:

a. Get out and build a snowmanb. Do your homeworkc. Stay with the car, running it every now and then to keep it warmd. Change a tire just for something to do

3. Flashlights, bottled water and food are good things to have on hand in case you must stay home during a blizzard.

True False

Answers: 1. True; 2. C; 3. True

8


Julia stared out the window. “Is it ever going to stop

raining, Grandma?” she asked. Ithad been raining for three days.“This was supposed to be a vaca-tion.”

“I hope it ends soon,”Grandma said. “I don’t know if theAcorn River can take much more.”

Grandma looked worried.Most of the time, the Acorn Riverwas a nice, slow river, lazy as a catin the sunshine. Now it was fulland raging.

“But Grandma,” Robbie said,“we’re pretty far from the river.”

The River Rises

CHAPTER TWO

9


“You’re probably right,” she said.She didn’t want to act worried in frontof the twins. “Are you ready for lunch?”

The twins went into the kitchen tohelp Grandma make grilled cheese sand-wiches.

But still therain fell, even pastdinner.

That nightthe TV weather-man was serious.Usually he wore afunny tie andmade jokes. Hedidn’t joke now.

“The river isapproaching floodstage,” he said.“The Army Corpsof Engineers issandbagging alongthe shore.”

“Oh dear,” said Grandma and sherubbed her hands together, which shedid when she was really worried.

“Is that bad?” Julia asked. “Whatdoes sandbagging mean?”

“I know,”shouted Robbie.He was alwaystrying to prove hewas smarter thanhis twin. “Itmeans puttingsand in bags!”

Julia scowled.“Everybodyknows that! Butwhy?”

Robbiestarted to answerbut no wordscame out. Finally,he admitted, “Idon’t know why.”

10


Both Grandma andJulia laughed because

Robbie looked like afunny fish with hismouth opening and

closing.When she stopped

laughing, Grandma told themthe sandbags would be stacked along theriver to keep the water from flowing intothe town.

“Then we’ll be safe,” said Juliahopefully.

“Probably,” said Grandma. “But weneed to be prepared. This area floodedmany years ago, when I was a little girl.”

“What should we do?” Julia asked. Grandma said, “The water can rise

very fast in a flash flood. We need to beready to evacuate, just in case.”

Julia and Robbie looked at eachother. This was serious.

“We’ll help,” Julia said. She defi-

nitely didn’t want to be swept away in aflood. The thought made her shiver.

“Pack a suitcase with things for afew days,” said Grandma.

The twins went into their roomsand packed clothes and shoes. Theydidn’t forget their toothbrushes.

“Can I bring some toys?” Juliaasked.

“By all means,” said Grandma.Grandma packed a suitcase, too. In

addition to clothes, she gathered impor-tant papers, jew-elry and heir-looms like herwedding al-bum and anantiquequilt.

Itdidn’t takelong. Soon theywere done.

11


Then Grandmainstructed Juliaand Robbie togather flashlights,batteries, a firstaid kit, a bat-tery-poweredradio, canned

food and a canopener. Grandma also found

the small cook stove in the campinggear, and then she did something funny.

“Grandma!” Julia shouted. “Whatare you doing?”

She was filling empty plastic sodabottles with water from the tap and put-ting them in a cooler. Their suppliesformed a small pile in the living room.

“It’s important that we have a sup-ply of water,” she said. “We don’t knowwhat may happen.”

Grandma turned on the radio sothey could hear important news.

“Now get somesleep,” Grandmasaid.

Julia andRobbiethought theywould havetrouble sleep-ing, but they wereso tired from gather-ing all the disaster suppliesthat they fell fast asleep.

Grandma woke them up at dawn.“It’s time to go,” Grandma said.

“We’re being asked to evacuate.”Julia and Robbie were scared and

excited at the same time.Grandma put their suitcases and

disaster supplies in the car. She had thetwins’ dog, Skipper, on a leash and extrafood for him. They all got in andGrandma drove out of the driveway.Other families were doing the same.

12


Itwas stillrainingbut thetwinsdidn’t seea flood.AskedJulia,“Where’sthe wa-ter?”

“It’s still far away, but it’s spillingover the sandbags,” Grandma said. “Butnot to worry. We evacuated in time.Sometimes people wait. That’s notsmart. Even six inches of water cansweep a car away.”

Grandma had grown up along theriver. She knew all about flood safety.

“We’re going to go into the nexttown,” she said. “There’s a Red Crossshelter there. We’ll stay there until the

water re-cedes.”

“Whatabout Skip-per?” Juliaasked.

“Dogscan’t stay atshelters,”saidGrandma.“But there’s

a nice kennelin Portervillewhere he canstay until wecan take himhome.”

“Butwhat aboutthe house?”Julia cried.

“What about your nice house?”“Don’t cry, honey,” Grandma said.

13


“I have all the important things withme – you two and Skipper and myheirlooms and papers. I don’t keepimportant things in the basement be-cause it might flood. And my utilitybox is upstairs, away from the water.”

“You’re great, Grandma,” saidRobbie. “You know everything.”

“I even have floodinsurance,” she said,with a smile.

SoonGrandma turnedinto her favoritediner. “Anybodyready for break-fast?” she asked.

The twins didn’t haveto be asked twice. They could almosttaste the pancakes. Then Julia realizedsomething.

“It stopped raining,” she said.“Finally!” Answers: 1. B; 2. A; 3. A.

What did you learn?

1. In addition to clothes, what did Grandma take with her when she evacuated?

A. Old ShoesB. Important papers and heirloomsC. Soap

2. Where would Skipper stay during the flood?

A. A kennel in PortervilleB. In Grandma’s houseC. The Red Cross shelter

3. How did Grandma prepare for a flood?

A. She moved her utility box upstairs and bought flood insuranceB. NothingC. She bought a raftD. She bought plastic furniture

14


Julia’s mother stood at the door to her daughter’s room, with

her hands on her hips.

The AfternoonTornado

CHAPTER THREE

“This room looks like a tornado hitit,” Julia’s mom said. She was mad.

Julia couldn’t argue. Clothes andshoes and toys were scattered over thefloor and her bed as if put there by astrong wind.

“I’ll clean it up later, Mom. I prom-ise,” Julia said. “Can I go out and playnow? The weathercaster said therewould be thunderstorms later. I’ll clean

it up then.”Julia’s mother

was thinking it overwhen Robbie,Julia’s twin, stuckhis head throughthe door.

“I’ll even helpher, Mom,” Robbiesaid. “Can we goout and play?Please?”

15


The twinslooked so pleadingthat she gave in.

“OK,” shesaid. “Go havefun. Just comehome when itstarts raining.”

The twinsdarted out thedoor, before theirmother changedher mind.

They rodetheir bikes toJensen Park. It wassix blocks from their house, across thestreet from Mr. Henry’s bookstore, a gasstation and other shops. The park wastheir favorite place to play. There was asmall house in a tree and a swing set anda small pond where Robbie liked to pre-tend he was fishing.

There was a strong wind andJulia peddled hard against it. Her hairflew out behind her.

“Summer is great!” Robbieshouted into the breeze.

Julia agreed, but just nodded andpeddled harder.

Once at the park, Julia wentlooking for wildflowers. Robbie fol-lowed her, jumping and trying to docartwheels, which he didn’t do verywell. When he fell he made a softthud against the soft grass. Juliagiggled.

“Look at how fast the clouds aremoving,” Julia said.

16


They seemed to be galloping acrossthe sky like horses.

“And they’re getting pretty dark,”sighed Robbie. “We have to go back.”

“We still have some time,” Juliasaid, admiring her flowers. “I don’t wantto clean my room yet.”

Robbie didn’t seem to be listening.He stared at the sky. Then he stood upand pointed. “Look!”

Julia looked. The clouds near thehorizon were dark, nearly as dark asnight and they seemed to be moving ina pattern. Julia had never seen anythinglike it before.

“What is it?” she asked.Robbie motioned for his sister to

get up. “I think,” he said slowly, “it’s atornado.”

Julia didn’t like the way the cloudslooked, but she didn’t think Robbie wasright. He couldn’t be right!

“We’ve never had a tornado here,”

she said.“Tornadoes can happen anywhere,”

Robbie said. “What do we do?” Julia asked.Robbie

grabbed herhand andthey ran to-ward theirbikes. Hedidn’t take hiseyes off thedark clouds.

Julia wasscared. Thewind wasblowingharder nowthrough thetrees. Itstarted torain.

“It’s pretty far away,” Robbie said.

17


“But we have to get home,” he added.“Let’s just hide in the tree house,”

Julia suggested.“No, that’s not safe,” Robbie said.

“We have to get in a low spot, like aditch, and cover our heads. Or we needto run inside.”

Robbie looked at Julia and theydecided together – they didn’t want tobe outside with a tornado.

“Let’s go,” Robbie yelled andheaded for the bookstore. They burstthrough the front door.

“Help!” Robbie called. “Mr.Henry! We need help!”

There was no answer, buta radio was on and a news-caster was giving a tornadowarning. “Everyone get in-side,” the radio said. “Get inthe basement or in a reinforcedroom in the center of your house. Stayaway from windows.”

“Get downstairs!” Julia shouted.The twins dashed through the

bookstore until they found the doorthat led to the basement. They ran

downstairs. In the basement, theyfound the storeowner and a clerk.

“Kids!” Mr. Henry, the bookstoreowner, hugged them. “I’m glad you

18


found someplace safe to be. We’ll befine down here.”

“We have to call ourMom,” Robbie said.

Mr. Henry had aphone in the basement andRobbie called to say theywere safe.

“Just stay in thebasement until it’s over,”his Mom said.

The twins huddledon the concrete floorand listened to the radionews about the storm.They imagined what thewind must sound likeoutside.

“Tornadoes surecan come suddenly,”Julia said.

“They often comewith bad thunder-

storms,” said Mr. Henry. “They are hardto predict, but we did get some warn-

ing this time. That’s why it’s good tohave a weather radio to alert you tosevere weather.”

“We need to get one,” saidRobbie.

“Some people evenbuild a safe room in theirhouse to protect them-selves from tornadoes,”Mr. Henry said.

“Cool!” said Robbie.Soon the radio gave

the all clear. The tornadohad not touched the townat all.

“We were lucky,”Julia said, as she andRobbie ran outside.

“But that was close,”said Robbie, his eyes widewith amazement.

19


Answers: 1. True; 2. A; 3. False.What did you learn?

1. Tornadoes can happen almost anywhere.

True False

2. Where is the best place to be during a tornado?

A. BasementB. Tree houseC. On your bicycleD. Playing in the park

3. Scientists always know when tornadoes will hit and can give lots of advance warning.

True False

20

“I’m glad we have a basement,”Julia said. “In case this ever happensagain. It’s too scary.”

They jumped on their bikesand pedaled hard. Julia wanted toget home fast, even if it meant shehad to clean up her room when shegot there!


The twins thought visitingSouthern California duringtheir summer vacation was a

great idea. Their Uncle James lived thereand they could visit the ocean.

“We can see movie stars in Holly-wood and visit amusement parks,too,” shouted Julia.

“Let’s go!” Robbie jumped up anddown with excitement. Their Momand Dad smiled and said they’d makethe plans.

Two weeks later, they were all ona plane to Los Angeles, which Juliadidn’t like much, but which Robbiethought was “as fun as a rollercoaster.”

Their Uncle James picked themup from the airport and took themstraight to his house, since they wereso tired.

The Shaky

CHAPTER FOUR

21


“Take a nap,” he said,“Then I’ll show youaround.”

“We don’t take naps,”said Julia, even as her eyesclosed. The twins slept for afew hours and then awoke,ready to explore. Their par-ents had gone to the oceanand the twins were glad to bewith Uncle James by them-selves.

“California is very differentfrom where you live,” he said.“Let me show you.”

Uncle James took them to the back-yard where the branches of his lemonand orange trees were heavy with bril-liantly colored fruit.

“Can we have an orange from thetree?” Robbie asked.

“Take your pick,” Uncle James said.Then the twins noticed his palm

tree, which shot straightup into the sky like anarrow.

“I’ve never seen any-thing like it,” Robbiesaid.

“Southern Californiahas a very unique cli-mate,” Uncle James said.He explained that it rarelyrains in the summer andthat the days get cool inthe evening, even when it’s

hot during the day. In thewinter, it almost never snows.

“And there’s another thing,”he said. “We get earthquakes.”

The twins look confused.“There are faults in the earth in

California,” Uncle James explained.“Earthquakes happen along these faults,sometimes. We can’t predict them, so wedon’t know when they’ll come.”

22


“What does it feel like?” Robbieasked. He looked down at his feet, as if

expectingan earth-quake atanyminute.

“Some-timesthey’resmall, theyfeel like abig truckrumblingby. Some-

times, they can be very large. TheNorthridge Earthquake happened nearhere. It was so large that buildings camedown and people were hurt.”

Julia looked alarmed. “This won’thappen while we’re here, will it?”

“I hope not,” Uncle James said.“But if it does, I’m prepared.”

“How?” Julia asked.“Follow me,” their uncle said.The twins followed behind, like

ducklings waddling after their mother.Uncle James said his house was bolted tothe foun-dation soit wouldn’tslide offduring anearth-quake.Then heshowedhow he’dstrappedhis waterheater tothe wall soit wouldnot fallover andstart a fire.

23


And there was more.“See how I attached these heavy

cabinets? They’re attached to the wall sothey won’t tip over during an earthquakeand fall on someone,” he said. “I’m verycareful about where I put furniture. Idon’t have heavy plants or mirrors nearthe bed, for example.”

“Good thinking,” saidRobbie. “That way, stuffwon’t fall on you whenyou’re sleeping.”

“Exactly,” saidUncle James.

“Should we run andget in bed if an earth-quake comes?” Juliaasked.

“Don’t be silly,” saidRobbie. He liked to prove that hewas smarter than his sister. “You runoutside if an earthquake comes.”

Uncle James shook his head. “You

definitely don’t run outside. Somethingcould fall on you! You stay inside andget under something heavy, like a tableor a desk. And cover your head. It’scalled duck and cover.”

Julia looked around. “Like underthe dining room table?”

“That would be good,” saidUncle James.

“Speaking of the diningroom,” said Robbie. “I’mhungry.”

Uncle James offered tomake them sandwiches.And then it happened. Theteacup on the counterstarted to rattle. It jumped

and teetered as if pushed by aninvisible hand.

Then the walls shook and it felt likea really, really big truck had just roaredin front of the house. But it didn’t stopright away.

24


“What’s happening?” asked Julia.“It’s an earthquake! Get under the

table,” shouted Uncle James.The twins dove under the table and

covered their heads. Uncle Jamessqueezed under, too, and put his armsaround them. They heard a glass fall offthe counter and smash on the ground,and then books began to fall off a shelf.

“How long will this last?” Juliawhispered.

“It’ll be overin a few seconds,”Uncle James said.

And it was,although to thetwins is seemedlike the earthquakehad lasted hours.They came outfrom under thetable to pick upthe fallen books.

They turned on the radio and heardthere had been no major damage.

“I’m glad it’s over,” said Julia.“Me, too. It was sort of like a not-

very-fun rollercoaster,” said Robbie. “Idon’t want to do that again for a longtime.”

Uncle James hugged the twins.“Disaster are always happening to

us,” said Julia with a sigh. “It was just agood thing you were prepared.”

25


Answers: 1. B; 2. A; 3. False; 4. C

1. Earthquakes occur along _______

a. Riversb. Faultsc. No-fault linesd. State borders

2. What did Uncle James do to his house to make it safer in an earthquake ?

a. Bolt his house to the foundation and strap the water heater to the wall

b. Move all his furniture to the backyard

c. Decorate his water heater with pretty bows

d. Put on hurricane straps

What did you learn?

3. Earth-quakes are pre-dictable:

True

False

4. What did Uncle Jamestell the twins to do during an earthquake?

a. Play checkersb. Run outside and look around at what is happeningc. Duck and coverd. Scream for help

26


Julia and Robbie’s mother sighed as she packed the last of their

clothes. She pushed down on the suit-case to make it close and she snapped

the latch.“I’m almost

afraid to plan avacation,” shesaid. “You twoare the disas-ter twins.”

“Itwasn’t our fault

there was an earth-quake when we visited

It’s HurricaneSeason

CHAPTER FIVE

Uncle James,” said Robbie. He was eat-ing a peanut butter sandwich and hetalked with his mouth full.

Julia giggled.“And it wasn’t our fault that the

Acorn River flooded when we visitedGrandma,” said Julia.

27


Skipper barked, as if in agreement.“Of course it wasn’t your fault and

I’m not mad,” their mother said. “Buteverywhere you go something happens.”

Julia nodded. She knew it was true.In addition to the earthquake and theflood, a tornado had nearly hit theirtown.

“But this time will be different,”said Julia.

“I can’t wait to see what Floridalooks like,” said Robbie.

It was a long drive to Florida andtheir father kept them busy by askingthem hurricane questions. The twinshad studied hurricanes at school.

“So,” their father said as he drove.“When is hurricane season?”

“I know,” shouted Julia. She raisedher hand as if she were in class, and thenshe lowered it when she rememberedwhere she was. She blushed a little at hermistake.

“Go ahead,” their father said.“Hurricane season is June 1

through November 30,” she said.

28


Robbie yelped. “That’s right now!”“That’s what I’m worried about,”

their mother said. “After all, you are thedisaster twins!”

Their father quizzed them somemore. Julia knew there were five catego-ries of hurricanes and that the winds ina hurricane blow in a counter-clockwisedirection. She knew hurricanes had an“eye” in the center.

“Have there been a lot of hurricaneswhere we’re going?” Julia asked. She wasgetting a little bit worried.

Their father nodded. “Oh yes. Allthe states along the coast here have beenhit by hurricanes in the past.”

Julia slapped her forehead in mockalarm and looked out the window. Be-fore long, they had arrived at the coast.

“Look at those houses,” shoutedRobbie.

“They look like long-legged birds,”said Julia.

Thehouses saton top oflong stilts.Their fatherexplainedthat thehouses wereelevated tobe abovethe highwater that ahurricanecan bring.

He alsoexplainedthat manyof the houses had special straps thatkeep the roofs on during high winds.Some houses also had hurricane shuttersto keep the windows from being brokenduring a hurricane and letting the rainand wind into the house.

29


“It’simportantto be pre-paredwhen youlive in ahurricanestate,”their fathersaid.

Forthe wholeweek, thesun was shiningand the waterwas blue as sap-phires. The twinswent swimmingevery day.

As usual, theirparents sat on thebeach, with a radio on. The twinssplashed and played in the water until

they got tiredand then theysat on towlsnext to theirparents.

Sud-denly, theirfatherreached downand turnedup the vol-ume on theradio.

“Listen,” their father said.The radio announcer said, “Accord-

ing to the National Weather Service,there is a Category One hurricane ap-proaching the coast. There is a hurricanewatch in place. Repeat, there is a hurri-cane watch in place.”

The twins looked worried. Theirmother shook her head as if the twinshad done it again.

30


“Don’t worry. I’ve been monitoringthe storm,” said their father. “A hurri-cane watch means a hurricane is pos-sible within 36 hours. And we’re leavingin the morning.”

“Good thing,” exclaimed Julia. “Idon’t want to be in a hurricane.”

Theypackedup theirtowelsand thebig um-brellaand theice chest.Theywalkedback to

their hotel. The sand was nice andwarm against their feet.

“If we lived here,” their father said,“we’d listen to the radio in case we had

to evacuate. Andwe’d have our fam-ily disaster kitready to go withour supplies.You know, hur-ricanes are dan-gerous, butthere’s always lotsof warning.”

The next day, they packedthe car and headed home. Julia imaginedwhat it would be like to be in a housewhen the heavy rain and wind blewaround them. She shivered at thethought. She wondered if the hurricanecould come this far inland, as if it waschasing them.

Then they heard the news: Hurri-cane Eleanor had veered away from land.Everyone was safe.

“For once,” their mother said with asmile, “you didn’t bring a disaster!”

31


Answers: 1. A; 2. B; 3. CWhat did you learn?

1. Hurricane season is:

a. Summer and Fallb. Winterc. All year

2. How many categories of hurricane are there?

a. 10b. 5c. Oned. None

3. Hurricanes have something in the middle of it that is named for a body part. What body part?

a. A footb. A handc. An eyed. An ear

32


This is a publication of the Federal Emergency Management Agency produced foreducational purposes. To order additional copies, call 1-800-480-2520.

FEMA-344/Reprinted June 2001

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