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Floods, Fires and Places

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Floods, Fires and Places

Read the field notes, study the visuals and complete the activities. Think about how floods and bushfires affect people, environments and places—and how communities prepare and recover.

Field notes: Two Australian events

A flood happens when water covers land that is usually dry. After heavy rain in 2022, parts of Lismore in New South Wales flooded. Water entered homes and businesses, and some roads were closed. Residents evacuated to safer places. Clean-up and repairs took time. A bushfire is an uncontrolled fire in vegetation. In 2019–20, bushfires burned across parts of south-eastern Australia. Smoke affected air quality, and some communities had to leave their homes. Fires damaged habitats and buildings. After rain, new plants began to grow in some burned areas, although recovery took time.

Read the clues

Use the field notes to answer. A short-term impact happens during an event or soon after it. A long-term impact can continue for months or years. An evacuation is moving people away from danger to a safer place.

1.Which event in the field notes caused water to cover land that is usually dry?
  • The Lismore flood
  • The south-eastern Australian bushfires
  • Both events
  • Neither event
2.Name one way the Lismore flood affected people and one way it affected a place or service.
3.True or false: Smoke from a bushfire can affect air quality even for people who are not close to the flames.
TrueFalse
4.Complete the cause-and-effect sentence: Heavy rain can cause a flood, which may roads and make travel unsafe.
5.Match each impact to the event described in the field notes.
  • Roads closed by floodwater
  • Smoke affected air quality
  • New plants began to grow after rain
  • Bushfire
  • Flood
  • Bushfire
6.Which is a long-term impact described in the field notes?
  • Residents moving to safer places during the event
  • Roads closing while floodwater is present
  • Clean-up and repairs taking time
  • Smoke being in the air during a fire

Think like a geographer

Natural hazards can change both the natural environment and places where people live. Communities can prepare, respond and recover in different ways.

7.Give one example from the field notes of a bushfire affecting the environment.
8.A family is told to leave their home because a bushfire is approaching. What is this action called, and why is it important?
9.Imagine you are helping a community prepare for heavy rain and possible flooding. Suggest one useful action people could take before the flood.
10.Compare the flood and bushfire in the field notes. Describe one impact they have in common and one way their impacts are different.
11.Choose either the Lismore flood or the 2019–20 bushfires. Explain one short-term impact and one impact that may take longer to recover from.

3 printable pages

  • Floods, Fires and Places, page 1 of 3: Field notes: Two Australian events, Read the clues

    Page 1

  • Floods, Fires and Places, page 2 of 3: Think like a geographer

    Page 2

  • Floods, Fires and Places, page 3 of 3: 10. Compare the flood and bushfire in the field notes. Describe one impact they have in…

    Page 3

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