Complete the sentences according to the text:
Risk can be defined broadly as a condition … .
These risk analysts have a responsibility to convey their assessments to … .
Some of these extreme events originate in the natural environment and, thus, are known as …; there are also hazards that are transmitted through the natural environment. These include some commonly referred to as … .
A risk communication effort addressing the imminent threat of an extreme event is referred to as a … ; it is intended to produce an appropriate ….
A risk communication program addressing the long-term potential for such events to occur is often known as a … .
Identifying the geographic areas at greatest risk makes it possible to … .
The purpose of operational analysis is to evaluate the problem in terms of … .
Resource mobilization indicates that successful implementation of a new program… .
Each agency (city, county, state and federal) must be aware of … .
The most effective method for reducing earthquake casualties and damage is by … .
Practice the pronunciation of the following words before you read:
Hurricane, employee, substantially, hire, finance, sufficient, request, assume, evacuee, flood
New Orleans sacks 3, 000 workers (5 October, 2005)
The US city of New Orleans is sacking 3,000 workers, about half of its workforce, after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Mayor Ray Nagin said he wished he could keep the employees on the payroll, but added that the city was not earning enough revenue. "We've talked to local banks and other financial institutions, and we are just not able to put together the financing necessary to continue to maintain our city hall staffing at its current levels," he said.
Mayor Ray Nagin said it was with great sadness that he was forced to sack three thousand people who worked for the city. The city had "searched high and low" for the funds, but it was not able to obtain sufficient funds, the official statement said, pointing out that the request for money had been put into the state and the federal government. Those city workers not contacted to return to work, it added, should consider themselves part of the lay off. Only non-essential employees would leave and no firefighters or police would be among those let go, Mr Nagin added.
Meanwhile the house to house search for bodies has been brought to an end with the death toll in Louisiana standing at more than nine hundred and seventy. A private company will now assume responsibility for any other reports of bodies being found. The total number of dead, around one thousand two hundred, including those in Mississippi, is considerably lower than the figure of ten thousand talked about in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Tens of thousands of people are still homeless living in shelters, hotels or other accommodation across America. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has been criticized for not getting evacuees into more permanent housing quickly enough. Trailer parks are being established to home those most in need. Louisiana officials said more searches would be conducted by a private company hired by the state, if someone reported seeing a body. The mayor has established a commission to draft a rebuilding plan for New Orleans and has asked for tax breaks to help to revive the city.
Thousands of people have returned to the city in recent days, after the parts least affected by flooding from Katrina re-opened. Schoolchildren went back to classes on Monday. Some businesses have also re-opened and power supplies are partially working - but only a few parts of the city have drinking water.
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