blew away, look up, fall down, come to an end, suffer from, nothing but, cut across, in shock, in ruins, dig out
A terrible storm destroyed fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged that their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or broken roofs. One person was killed, several were badly hurt and taken to the hospital, and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.
A farmer, Mr Tan, said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour.
“I was eating with my wife and children,” he said, “when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him safe but very frightened.”
Mrs Woo said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children.
“There was no time to take anything，” she said. “A few minutes later, the roof came down.”
Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded area and the welfare department brought them food, clothes and shelters.
On the day the tornado hit, there was no indication severe weather was on its way—the sky was blue and the sun had been out. The first alert my husband, Jimmy, 67, and I, 65, got came around 9 pm, from some scrolling text on the TV Jimmy was watching. He ran upstairs to find me in our thirdfloor bedroom, and we changed the channel from the presidential primary debate I had been watching to our local Pensacola, Florida, station.
No sooner had we found coverage of the tornado than it was on top of us. Suddenly, the bones of the house shook, the power went out, and the wind began to roar through blownout windows. We had three flights of steps to navigate to the safety of the first floor, where a closet fixed underneath a brick staircase might be the firmest place to wait things out. Everything around rattling, we struggled forward, uncertain whether we would make it.
As we reached the last flight of steps, our front door blew out. Shards of glass flew everywhere. A threefootlong tree branch whipped, missing us by inches.
By the time I reached the closet, the tornado had been over us for about a minute. Jimmy pushed me down to the closet floor, but the wind kept him outside. I grasped his arm as the tornado constantly sucked the door open and tried to bring him with it. My knees and scalp were full of glass, but I felt no pain. If I had let go, Jimmy would have flown right out the back of the house and into the bay. Then everything stopped. In those first quiet moments, I couldn't believe it was over.
The storm lasted four minutes. Four of the twelve town houses in our unit were completely destroyed. Of the houses left standing, ours suffered the most damage. Amazingly, none of us were severely injured.
Would you know what to do if a fire started in your home? Take the time now to review the following safety tips, and your family will be prepared in time of a fire in your home：
An escape plan can help every member of a family get out of a burning house. The idea is to get outside quickly and safely. So it is important to learn and remember the different ways out of your home.
Stay low
If you can see smoke in the house, stay low to the ground as you make your way to the exit. You will breathe less smoke if you stay to the ground. Smoke naturally rises, so if there is smoke while you are using your escape route, staying low means you can crawl(爬) under most of it.
What if you can't get out right away?
If you can't get out fast because fire or smoke is stopping an escape route, you will want to yell for help. You can do this from an open window or call 911 if you have a phone with you. Then, firefighters will have a hard time finding you. The sooner they find you, the sooner you both can get out.
If your clothes catch fire, what should you do?
Your clothes could catch fire during a fire or by accident if you step too close to a candle. If this happens, don't run! Instead, stop, drop to the ground, cover your face with your hands, and roll. This will cut off the air and put out the flames.
A．Know your way out
B．Preventing fires is in the first place!
C．An easy way to remember this is: Stop, Drop, and Roll!
D．Smoke from a fire can make it hard to see where things are.
E．They will help prepare you for what you need to do in case of a fire.
F．Even if you are scared, never hide under the bed or in a closet.
G．In a fire, smoke and poisonous (有毒的) air hurt more people than the actual flames (火焰) do.
