1.   A few of the fires that had devastated broad areas of downtown Kobe still were smoldering, but all were greatly reduced in size and seemed under control.

2.   But a hurricane occasionally devastates an area.

3.   But fires devastated the area around the Colt factory.

4.   But residents and experts on the region said the pictures gave a misleading impression that the hurricane was devastating the area.

5.   But this past weekend, debates over issues like tobacco became an afterthought when Hurricane Fran devastated this area in southeastern North Carolina.

6.   Famine has devastated the area before.

7.   Flooding has devastated the area, the group at Gum Swamp said.

8.   Last summer, the area was devastated by a series of wildfires.

9.   Politics, tribal warfare, drought and other natural disasters had devastated the area.

10.   Spending boomed that month compared to the previous January, when the Kobe area was devastated by an earthquake.