What is a Flood?
Believe it or not, flooding is the deadliest type of severe weather. There’s probably a lot about floods and flooding you don’t know.
In this guide, we’ll go over everything there is to know about flooding; answering common questions like “What causes flooding?” and “Where does flooding occur?”
What Causes Flooding?
As we mentioned above, there are plenty of different causes of flooding. While different flood types typically have different causes, most floods are caused by one of the following activities.
A dark blue "1" in a red circle Heavy rainfall is the simplest cause of flooding. When there is too much rain or it happens too fast, there just isn’t a place for it to go. This can result in floods like flash flooding.
A dark blue "2" in a red circle Overflowing rivers are another cause of floods. You don’t necessarily need heavy rains though to experience river flooding. As we mentioned before, river flooding can happen when there is debris in the river or dams that block the flow of the water.
Speaking of dams, broken dams are another cause of flooding. Older infrastructure can fail when heavy rains come and water levels rise. When dams break, they unleash torrents of water on unsuspecting households. This is part of what happened when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.
A dark blue "4" in a red circle Storm surge and tsunamis also cause flooding. Storm surges from hurricanes and other tropical systems can cause sea levels to rise and cover normally dry coastal areas in several feet of water. Tsunamis on the other hand are giant waves caused by earthquakes or underwater volcanic eruptions. As these waves move inland, they build height and can push a lot of water inland in coastal areas.
a dark blue "5" in a red circle Channels with steep banks are also to blame for flooding. Flooding often occurs when there is fast runoff into lakes, rivers, and other basins. This is often the case with rivers and other channels that feature steep sides.
a dark blue "6" in a red circle A lack of vegetation can cause flooding. Vegetation can help slow runoff and prevent flooding. When there is a lack of vegetation, there is little to stop water from running off and overflowing river banks and streams.
a dark blue "7" in a red circle Melting snow and ice is another common reason for flooding. When a large amount of snow and/or ice melts quickly, it often doesn’t have somewhere to go except low-lying areas.
These aren’t all the reasons that flooding can happen, but they are some of the most common.
Flooding Effects
No matter what causes of a flood, it can have devastating effects on your community. There are actually many dangerous flooding effects. Besides physical danger, floods also cause economic and social problems. In this section, we’ll cover the most common flood effects.
Loss Of Lives
The gravest effect of flooding is death. In fact, flooding is the number one severe weather killer. Floods have claimed thousands of lives throughout history. But how does flooding kill?
Floods kill by carrying people away in fast-moving water or drowning them. It only takes six inches of water to wash a person away. Floods can also kill people by destroying buildings and creating unsafe environments. One often-overlooked deadly effect of flooding comes from waterborne illnesses.
From 2010 to 2018, the National Weather Service recorded hundreds of flooding deaths across the United States. Texas saw most of those deaths, with the 8-year total sitting at 212 fatalities.
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