Disaster
1.
a. An occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress; a catastrophe.
b. A grave misfortune.
2. A total failure. Usage : The dinner party was a disaster.
3. Obsolete An evil influence of a star or planet.
Calamity
1. An event that brings terrible loss, lasting distress, or severe affliction; a disaster. Usage : A hurricane would be a calamity for this low-lying coastal region.
2. Dire distress resulting from loss or tragedy.
Usage : The whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity.
Catastrophe
1. A great, often sudden calamity.
2. A complete failure; a fiasco. Usage : The food was cold, the guests quarreled, the whole dinner was a catastrophe.
3. The concluding action of a drama, especially a classical tragedy, following the climax and containing a resolution of the plot.
4. A sudden violent change in the earth’s surface; a cataclysm.
Usage : Lack of funds has resulted in a catastrophe for our school system.
Cataclysm
1. A violent upheaval that causes great destruction or brings about a fundamental change.
2. A violent and sudden change in the earth’s crust.
3. A devastating flood.
Usage : The 12 foot snow storm created a cataclysm in the town, because they didn’t have enough snow plows to handle it all.
Apocalypse
Great or total devastation; doom.
Usage : The apocalypse of nuclear war.
Famine
1. A drastic, wide-reaching food shortage.
2. A drastic shortage; a dearth.
3. Severe hunger; starvation.
Usage : The refugees were trapped by war, drought and famine.
Drought
1. A long period of abnormally low rainfall, especially one that adversely affects growing or living conditions.
2. A prolonged dearth or shortage.
Usage : Farmers most affected by the drought, hope that there may yet be sufficient rain early in the growing season.
Meltdown
1. Severe overheating of a nuclear reactor core, resulting in melting of the core and escape of radiation.
2. A disastrous or rapidly developing situation likened to the melting of a nuclear reactor core. Usage: After several corporate meltdowns, only two reporters remained in the bureau.
3. An emotional breakdown.
Plague
1. A widespread affliction or calamity.
2. A sudden destructive influx or injurious outbreak. Usage: a plague of locusts;
Tidal Wave
1. The swell or crest of surface ocean water created by the tides.
2. An unusual, often destructive rise of water along the seashore, as from a storm or a combination of wind and high tide.
3. An overwhelming manifestation; a flood. Usage : The case study mentioned a tidal wave of usage of illicit drugs among the youngsters.
Tsunami
A very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption.
Blizzard
1.
a. A violent snowstorm with winds blowing at a minimum speed of 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour and visibility of less than one-quarter mile (400 meters) for three hours.
b. A very heavy snowstorm with high winds.
2. A torrent; a superabundance. Usage : There was a blizzard of phone calls.
Epidemic
1. An outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely.
2. A rapid spread, growth, or development. Usage : There is an unemployment epidemic.
3. Widely prevalent. Usage : There was an epidemic discontent amongst the Germans towards the end of the war.
Cyclone
1. Meteorology
a. An atmospheric system characterized by the rapid inward circulation of air masses about a low-pressure center, usually accompanied by stormy, often destructive weather. Cyclones circulate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
b. A violent tropical storm, especially one originating in the southwestern Pacific Ocean or Indian Ocean.
2. A violent rotating windstorm.
3. Any of various devices using centrifugal force to separate materials.
Earthquake
A sudden movement of the earth’s crust caused by the release of stress accumulated along geologic faults or by volcanic activity.
Tornado
1. A rotating column of air ranging in width from a few yards to more than a mile and whirling at destructively high speeds, usually accompanied by a funnel-shaped downward extension of a cumulonimbus cloud.
2. A violent thunderstorm in western Africa or nearby Atlantic waters.
3. A whirlwind or hurricane.
Hurricane
1. A severe tropical cyclone having winds greater than 64 knots (74 miles per hour; 119 kilometers per hour), originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean, traveling north, northwest, or northeast from its point of origin, and usually involving heavy rains.
2. A wind with a speed greater than 64 knots (74 miles per hour; 119 kilometers per hour per hour), according to the Beaufort scale.
3. Something resembling a hurricane in force or speed.
Typhoon
A tropical cyclone occurring in the western Pacific or Indian oceans.
Wildfire / Bushfire
is an uncontrolled fire often occurring in wildland areas, but which can also consume houses or agricultural resources.
