VOCABULARY acre – Every acre of low-lying land was covered by the flood waters. A unit of measure for land destroyed – The cabin near the river was destroyed by the flood. ruined cyclone – The cyclone caused wind damage and flooding in coastal communities. A large, circular storm that forms over the ocean damaged – Many other buildings were damaged by the flood, as well. Caused loss or harm shelter – To be safe, seek shelter in a house or other sturdy building during a thunder storm. a place that provides cover from the weather surge – One of the greatest dangers in a cyclone is the surge of ocean water blown inland by wind. A sudden rise in ocean water levels

VOCABULARY invisible – The small plane was invisible in the midst of the dark clouds. not able to be seen turbulent – The turbulent winds bent many of the street signs. causing unrest upward – The small plane climbed upward into the thick clouds. turned up accustomed – The crew of the plane was accustomed to climbs and drops. used to or familiar with data – The data will tell scientists how to prepare for the storm. facts that can be used in planning determine – Scientists use information from the equipment to determine the size of a storm. decide

VOCABULARY sturdy – Our sturdy new house withstood the powerful winds of the storm. well built; strong belief – The facts do not agree with the belief that tornadoes avoid cities. something that one thinks is true column – Bits of trash and dust are spinning in the column of whirling air. a tall, pole-shaped object vacuum – The weather scientist compared a tornado to a vacuum cleaner. using a process that draws air from space region – Keisha lives in a region of the country that has many tornadoes. a broad area of land

VOCABULARY imperfect – Imperfect weather forced people to leave the beaches. not perfect forecasters – Some ships paid no attention to warnings from weather forecasters. persons who use information to predict something that might happen approaching – The ship’s crew warned other crews of the approaching storms at sea. coming near absorbed – The more powerful storm absorbed weaker storms in its path. took in convince – Dark clouds and high winds were enough to convince the crew to return home. to make a person agree or believe rare – Case knew that it was rare for a storm to come from that direction. very uncommon