<span>Natural disasters in Ukraine</span> <span>"Local road was washed away and damaged.</span> <span>The highway of national route 'Kyiv-Chop' was blockedbecause of mud sliding in the Skole district in the Lviv region.</span> <span>Railroad Lviv-Uzhhorod was blockedbecause of fall of the tree."</span> <span>"A private dwelling house was destroyed because of sliding in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.</span> <span>The master ofthe house<span>, </span>born in 1965<span>, </span>died.</span> <span>963 houses were underflooded by flood water."</span> <span>"On July<span>, </span>24 in the evening 27-year-old resident of the Vyzhnytsya district died in the basement that wasflooded as a result of bad weather in Bukovyna."</span> <span>These lines are from Ukrayinski Novyny report about the natural Disaster that occurred in WesternUkraine in July 2008.</span> <span>As a result of heavy showers the level of water had been raised in the rivers<span>, </span>anddwelling houses<span>, </span>farmlands and agricultural holdings were underflooded.</span> <span>Some crops were destroyed.</span> <span>Natural disasters have begun to occur in Ukraine with increasing frequency.</span> <span>After dangerous floods inZakarpatya storms and tornados have also come their way.</span> <span>Information about the number of peoplekilled by lightning is more frequent in different parts of Ukraine.</span> <span>Until recently<span>, </span>we only heard of suchdisasters occurring on the other side of the Atlantic.</span> <span>And what are the causes of natural disasters which are becoming more frequent in our county?</span> <span>Notwaiting for the scientists' explanations<span>, </span>people say this is our fault.</span> <span>During the last 50 years a great dealof forests in the Carpathians have been cut down.</span> <span>Deforestation has led to changes in local climate.</span><span>That's why we have so much trouble with floods in this region.</span> <span>The scientists remind us that allelements and systems are interconnected in nature.</span> <span>Irresponsible attitude to it might lead to terribleresults.</span> <span>The conducted research work has confirmed the idea about not only natural but man-made causes ofthese floods.</span> <span>What is natural disaster?</span> <span>The definition is<span>: </span>it is the effect of a natural hazard that affects theenvironment and leads to financial<span>, </span>environmental and human losses.</span> <span>A natural hazard is a threat of anatural occurring event that will have a negative effect on people or the environment.</span> <span>Many naturalhazards are interrelated.</span> <span>For example<span>, </span>earthquake can cause tsunami and drought that can leaddirectly to famine.</span> <span>The costs of natural disasters - lives lost<span>, </span>homes destroyed<span>, </span>economies disrupted<span> ...</span></span> <span>But there is reasonfor hope.</span> <span>By understanding how and where these natural events occur<span>, </span>we can build and live safely onthe Earn<span>, </span>and by providing real-time information about foods<span>, </span>earthquakes<span>, </span>and other hazards<span>, </span>we canrespond effectively when disaster strikes.</span> <span>We should build stronger<span>, </span>safer communities that areresistant to natural disasters<span>.</span></span>