Blog Prompt
Q: Imagine the chaotic scene of the aftermath of a natural disaster. How would it be like? In what ways could a natural disaster affect a country and its citizens? Describe such an imaginary scenario. You can be as creative as possible on the possible impact.

Everything was shaking. It was as if the whole house had been struck by thunderbolts. There was such a loud rumbling that I thought the floor would be split open. I did not know how to get out of my bed so I hung on to it. "Huang Lin! Are you all right?" I heard Father shout over the rumbling. I shouted back to say I was fine. Even though the tremors lasted only for a few minutes, it felt as it they were going on for hours. Finally, they ceased. But I was still shaking due to shock. Slowly, trying not to fall, I climbed out of my bed and went to join my family.

The living room clearly showed the effects of the earthquake. It was in a mess. My parents and my younger sister were huddled in a corner. Wardrobes, chests, bookshelves, and the television set had all fallen down. By now, the supply of electricity had been cut off.

An hour later, we went out to see what had happened outside. The early dawn revealed the nightmarish scene. There were many injured people on the street. Families had taken some of their belongings with them, and were huddled together. Some houses were completely destroyed and there were several cracks on the road. Pavements had been reduced to stone and rubble. Further ahead, I could see that there was a fire. Cars were lying on the roads like heaps of twisted metal. Our house was still standing though one wall leaned against the next house. It seemed so unreal that a few minutes of the earthquake had caused so much destruction and suffering.

For the next few weeks, the electricity, telephone lines and water supplies were cut off due to the earthquake. Many families were sent to relief centres because their houses had been completely flattened. We were lucky because we could still stay in our house despite the damage. The district in which we lived was not the only area to be hit by the great earthquake. We learnt from news reports that other cities were affected as well. Later, we knew that the earthquake had claimed some 6000 lives.

Our house was restored and so were the many others. At the same time, many more new houses were built for those whose houses were completely destroyed.