AT U R EÊSF U N R Y NATUREÊS FURY FLOOD Anita Ganeri
AT U R EÊSF U N R Y What Is a Flood What Is a Flood Aflood happens when water from a river or the sea covers dry land But a flood is far more powerful than this description makes it sound Heavy rains can turn gently flowing rivers into terrifying torrents that sweep across the landscape submerging it under feet of muddy water Powerful storms and giant waves can send seawater cascading over low-lying coasts drowning towns harbors and people Flooding in Meissen Germany in 2002 Heavy summer rains caused the river Elbe to overflow its banks and spread onto the surrounding land Killer floods Floods kill more people than earthquakes famines volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters Over the centuries tens of millions of people have died in floods A single huge flood can bring catastrophe killing millions of people Floods are more frequent than other natural disasters and they cause as much damage to property as all other natural disasters put together Fast flowing floodwater washes away buildings cars trees and roads Even stagnant floodwater damages buildings electricity cables and other infrastructure Floods also alter the landscape by eroding soil carrying it away and dumping it elsewhere Flood types There are three main types of flood river floods flash floods and coastal floods Most floods happen on rivers when excess water overflows from a river onto flat land called the floodplain The most devastating floods happen along the world’s great 4
AT U R EÊSF U N R Y rivers such as the Mississippi in the United States the Ganges in India and the Huang Ho in China Flash floods happen suddenly when intense rain falls over a small area Coastal floods happen when storms and tsunamis raise the sea level above the level of the coast Despite being so destructive floods can also bring benefits The soil on river floodplains is extremely fertile making them good places to grow crops This is why millions of people around the world choose to live on floodplains despite the risk from flooding Car roofs poke above floodwater in New Orleans The flooding was caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 CASE STUDY The biblical flood In the Bible God sends a great flood that covers the whole earth Only a man called Noah and his family survive There are many other similar legends of great floods They may be based on a real flood that happened about 5,000 years ago in modern-day Iraq where archaeologists found a thick layer of sediment deposited by massive flooding W h a t I s a l F o o d 5
