The 2008 Afghanistan blizzard was a severe blizzard that hit Afghanistan in February 2008, with temperatures dropping to -30 C and up to 180 cm of snow in mountainous areas. Over 900 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of livestock also died. The blizzard was not a record storm for Afghanistan but the extreme cold and lack of preparation caused widespread damage. People suffered frostbite and hypothermia from the cold, with some families resorting to selling their children for supplies. International aid organizations distributed food, blankets and other supplies to help vulnerable people and communities affected by the disaster.

1. Slide 1:
The 2008 Afghanistan blizzard was a fierce but not a record-breaking blizzard that struck
Afghanistan in February 2008 mostly. Temperatures fell to a low of -30 C, with up to 180
centimeters of snow in the more mountainous regions, killing at least 926 people.
organizations and foreign troops distributed several tons of clothing, blankets, food and fuel
in provinces throughout the country and in remote, mountainous villages. The hospitals
performed frostbite amputations on at least 100 people across the country, as many walked
barefoot in the freezing cold mud and snow. The weather also claimed more than 100,000
sheep and goats, and nearly 315,000 cattle died.
Slide 2:
In February of 2008 Afghanistan's climate took a bad turn when temperatures
plummeted and snow blew in. The usual climate in Afghanistan is dry and has an
arid steppe making it susceptible to cold winters and snowstorms. The mountain
ranges in Afghanistan are known for having high winds that make it easy for a
blizzard to occur. Although it is not unusual for a blizzard to hit Afghanistan, people
were unprepared for the temperatures of the 2008 blizzard. It is considered a
natural disaster because of the damage and loss that came with it.
Slide 3: In order to qualify as a blizzard, winds have to be at least 35mph and rage
for a longer period of time—at least three hours or more. Although meteorologists
are now able to more accurately predict blizzards, the storms still have the ability to
cripple whole cities at a time, and deaths are almost always inevitable. Although
blizzards are tracked by satellites, forecasters use computer models to predict their
paths. The models reside in mammoth supercomputers and are constantly fed
information about the current state of the atmosphere.
Slide 4: People suffered and were dying from frostbite and hypothermia, caused by
the cold and lack of ways to keep warm. The only way to supply heat was by
burning wood, coal, or dung. They lived in mud and homes that could barely keep
the heat in. Some families were getting so desperate that they would sell their
children for supplies. Other damages were caused by buildings collapsing and snow
melting. The snow that melted caused floods, which is a different disaster in itself.
Slide 5:
In this case humans can't turn disastrous events into catastrophes because it was a
meteorological disaster. It was real that human activity can cause, intensify,
prevent or reduce natural disaster. Thus, we can say that human disasters depend
absolutely and totally human action but in this case this natural disaster depends
on the weather
Slide 6:
In a poor country such as Afghanistan there isn't much a family can do but to make
sure they have blankets and store as much food as they can if they are even
equipped to store it. Troops and aid organizations, other means of mitigations can
take place such as warning the people when a storm. Troops tried to help by
handing out clothing, blankets, and fuel to keep others warm.

2. Slide 7:
New ways of mitigation can be found such as new technology to keep warm when
the snow keeps falling, or ways to be more resourceful with the supplies given.
There are ways to make sure as little damage as possible occurs, however, when
the country is poor and the people have little to nothing it is very hard to salvage
the little that they do own. The support from other countries helps them to return
as soon as possible to normal.
Slide 8:
There were thousands of dollars in damage caused by collapsing of buildings and
livestock dying. Flooding from the snow melting also played a part in the damage
totals.
Works Cited
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How Do Blizzards Form? (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2014, from
https://eo.ucar.edu/kids/dangerwx/blizzard3.htm
Blizzard of 2008. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2014, from
https://prezi.com/clwcfaqwkwod/blizzard-of-2008/
Pearson, M. (n.d.). Afghanistan Blizzards. Retrieved December 8, 2014, from
http://www.markpearson.co.uk/hundreds-die-in-afghan-blizzards/sheberghan-horse
Environmental Science. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2014, from
http://evs3504.blogspot.com/2012/04/disaster-mitigation-plan-group-activity.html
Afghan winter turns deadly. (2008, February 11). Retrieved December 8, 2014, from
http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/11/Worldandnation/Afghan_winter_turns_d.shtml