Storm Runners: Chapters 5:46AM–7:20PM

by Roland Smith
Chase Masters and his father travel the country chasing the most destructive storms and trying to help those in need. Then, devastating Hurricane Emily slams the Gulf Coast of Florida, and Chase and two other middle schoolers have to survive the storm of the century.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters One Year Earlier–3:10PM, Chapters 4:12PM–7:42PM, Chapters 5:46AM–7:20PM, Chapters 7:56PM–01:28AM, Chapters 01:41AM–3:42AM
15 words 48 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. coincidence
    an accidental event that seems to have been arranged
    His father was silent for several seconds, then said, “...the name’s just a coincidence. They alternate female and male names every hurricane season, starting with the letter A. This year it’s been Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, and now Emily...”
  2. lanyard
    a cord worn around the neck to hold a whistle, badge, etc.
    His dad carried a beat-up cell phone on a lanyard around his neck so he could get to it without having to reach into his pocket.
  3. premonition
    an early warning about a future event
    Chase began to get a strange feeling about Emily and wondered if this was what his dad experienced when he made his predictions, or what a lightning rod felt just before a strike. A tingling sensation. A spark of premonition…
  4. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    His hair was a little disheveled, and it looked as if he hadn’t shaved since the night before.
  5. mandatory
    required by rule
    At this point, state police and local law enforcement are not calling for mandatory evacuation...
  6. evacuation
    the act of leaving a dangerous place in an orderly fashion
    At this point, state police and local law enforcement are not calling for mandatory evacuation...
  7. projected
    predicted in advance; probable
    ...but they are suggesting that if you have somewhere to stay outside of Emily’s projected track, you should proceed there after securing your property.
  8. erratic
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    There’s no doubt about that, Richard, but due to Emily’s erratic behavior, we’re still unclear about where she’ll make landfall.
  9. deviation
    a turning aside
    Because of the speed she’s traveling, even a slight deviation from the path she’s on could put her hundreds of miles away from Saint Pete.
  10. minimal
    the least possible
    “I’m standing next to John Masters, owner of M.D. Emergency Services. What are you doing down here, John?”
    “Helping out … making sure the damage will be minimal if Emily hits here.”
  11. barometer
    an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure
    He was not afraid to ride on a bus. But there wasn’t time to explain to her what his father called The Gut Barometer, or TGB. “Everyone has one,” his father had told him. “It works just like a real barometer: When the pressure drops, the weather is going to change. The TGB is in your solar plexus. You feel the pressure drop in your gut.”
  12. paratrooper
    a soldier who is trained to jump from airplanes
    “Okay. On the count of three I’ll pull the door open and you all bail out quickly so I don’t get too drenched. One … two … three …” The doors shuddered open and the kids jumped out into the wind and rain like paratroopers.
  13. levee
    an embankment built to prevent a river from overflowing
    “It’s huge, and getting bigger. The state bought a large parcel of land down the road from us with a levee on it. Eventually they’ll buy our place, which will connect the levee property to the refuge.”
  14. paramedic
    a person trained to give emergency medical treatment
    After the lightning strike, he and his father had taken first aid classes three nights a week for months. By the time they’d finished they could have become paramedics.
  15. deprivation
    the disadvantage that results from losing something
    He braced his back against a pole and was about to try to kick the windshield out, when something dark and very big swam past outside. Chase couldn’t tell what it was, but it frightened him so badly that he nearly sucked in a lungful of water.
    Get ahold of yourself! Oxygen deprivation is making you see things.
Created on Fri Oct 03 20:39:20 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Dec 16 18:14:56 EST 2025)

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