Collocations for disaster - noun

awful, big, dreadful, great, major, terrible, worst
the biggest disaster in British mining history

near
a near disaster in the city centre

imminent, impending
It seemed that nothing could prevent the impending disaster. | Everyone had the feeling that disaster was imminent.

potential | global, national | natural
earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters

man-made | air, ecological, environmental, flood, military, mining, nuclear, rail
fears of a nuclear disaster

business, economic, financial | personal

bring, cause, lead to, spell
One person''s mistakes can bring disaster to someone else. | attempts to find out what caused the disaster | The drought spelt economic disaster for the country.

avert, avoid, prevent, save sb/sth from, stave off, ward off
A major disaster was averted only just in time. | What can be done to ward off environmental disaster?

predict, prophesy
Independent analysts in the market predicted disaster.

court, invite
It''s courting disaster to go into the mountains without proper weatherproof clothing.

be heading for
his firm belief that the whole world was heading for disaster

face
In the last match of the series England were facing disaster.

suffer
There are many who have suffered personal disasters but managed to rebuild their lives.

survive
It was a miracle any of the passengers or crew survived the worst air disaster in Portugal for 20 years.

end in
The show ended in disaster when the tent collapsed.

happen, occur, strike
finding out why the disaster occurred | Everything was going fine. Then, without warning, disaster struck.

befall sb/sth, hit sb/sth, strike sb/sth
the economic disaster that befell the country

loom, threaten
We could all see that disaster loomed for the company.

area, zone
Only rescue workers are allowed into the disaster area.

relief | victim

in a/the ~
In a disastereveryone needs to keep calm.

a disaster waiting to happen
Any one of these nuclear plants may be a disaster waiting to happen.

in the aftermath of a disaster
In the aftermath of the disaster people were too shocked to give a clear picture of what had happened.

a recipe for disaster
Letting her organize the party is a recipe for disaster (= sth that is likely to go badly wrong).

a victim of a disaster
providing help for the victims of the disaster

absolute, complete, real, total, unmitigated
The play was a complete disaster from beginning to end.

economic, financial, social
Buying that house turned out to be a financial disaster.

prove, turn out to be
High-rise buildings proved a social disaster.