IELTS Cue Card 1003

Talk about a natural disaster in your area

:You should say

?What was it
?What happened
?and explain What did you experience

:Model Answer

The number of natural disasters have risen quite dramatically in the 21st century. Humans have caused harm in every aspect to this planet and it is fair to say that we are seeing its implications now. Luckily, growing up witnessing a natural disaster was a rare occurrence but nowadays it is a very common phenomenon

I’d like to talk about the recent Uttrakhand floods which had detrimental effects in my state. After witnessing scorching heat, people were happy that monsoon was finally here. Little did they know that this monsoon will have a devastating impact on their lives. Initially torrential rains and winds started blowing which were followed by thunder and lightning. Smiles turned into concerns and it was quite evident that it was the start of something bad

Rains and that too lots of it. It didn’t stop for days and even though I live in a valley and we were accustomed to rains and winds but this looked like nothing of the monsoon that’d bring a smile on our face. Up until that year we had never seen drainage issues but water started clogging up and seasonal rivers began to swallow. The cloud bursts made it even worse and the incessant rains was just aiding the cause of a potential disaster. Emergency services were on their toes and within a few days half the town was submerged. Many people lost their lives in these floods. We are still experiencing the aftermath of that incident up until now

Luckily, my house is a bit far away from the river so we didn’t witness any damage as such but many were affected badly and needed urgent help. As they saying goes “you need to be in it to see it”. The entire experience was scary and we couldn’t go out of the house for 3 days. No electricity and emergency messages being played on the radio, it felt like I was in the middle of a war zone. Once the rains stopped, people started rescuing those who were left stranded. Help arrived from different parts of the country and many housing redevelopment efforts are still going on