10/2/24, 7:28 AM Flood

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A RT I C L E

Flood
A flood happens when water overflows or soaks land that is normally dry.
There are few places on Earth where people don’t need to be concerned
about flooding.

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P H OTO G R A P H

Flooding in Bangladesh
Flooding is a type of extreme weather. Flooding happens when there is
heavy rainfall in a short amount of time.

P H O T O G R A P H B Y D I D A R U L A L A M C H Y, M Y S H O T

A RT I C L E VO C A B U L A RY

A flood happens when water overflows or soaks land that is normally dry.
There are few places on Earth where people don’t need to be concerned
about flooding. Generally, floods take hours or even days to develop, giving
residents time to prepare or evacuate. Sometimes, floods develop quickly
and with little warning.

A flood can develop in a many ways. The most common is when rivers or
streams overflow their banks. These floods are called riverine floods. Heavy
rain, a broken dam or levee, rapid icemelt in the mountains, or even a
beaver dam in a vulnerable spot can overwhelm a river and send it
spreading over nearby land. The land surrounding a river is called a
flood plain.

Coastal flooding, also called estuarine flooding, happens when a large

storm or tsunami causes the sea to rush inland.

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Floods are the second-most widespread natural disaster on Earth, after

wildfires. All 50 states of the United States are vulnerable to flooding.

Effects of Floods

When floodwaters recede, affected areas are often blanketed in silt and
mud. This sediment can be full of nutrients, benefiting farmers and
agribusinesses in the area. Famously fertile flood plains like the
Mississippi River valley in the American Midwest, the Nile River valley in
Egypt, and the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East have supported
agriculture for thousands of years. Yearly flooding has left millions of tons of
nutrient-rich soil behind.

However, floods have enormous destructive power. When a river overflows

its banks or the sea moves inland, many structures are unable to withstand
the force of the water. Bridges, houses, trees, and cars can be picked up and
carried off. Floods erode soil, taking it from under a building's foundation,
causing the building to crack and tumble. Severe flooding in Bangladesh in
July 2007 led to more than a million homes being damaged or destroyed.

Floods can cause even more damage when their waters recede. The water
and landscape can be contaminated with hazardous materials, such as sharp
debris, pesticides, fuel, and untreated sewage. Potentially dangerous mold
can quickly overwhelm water-soaked structures.

As flood water spreads, it carries disease. Flood victims can be left for weeks
without clean water for drinking or hygiene. This can lead to outbreaks of
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deadly diseases like typhoid, malaria, hepatitis A, and cholera. This

happened in 2000, as hundreds of people in Mozambique fled to
refugee camps after the Limpopo River flooded their homes. They soon fell
ill and died from cholera, which is spread by unsanitary conditions, and
malaria, spread by mosquitoes that thrived on the swollen river banks.

In the United States, floods are responsible for an average of nearly 100
deaths every year, and cause about $7.5 billion in damage.

China's Yellow River valley has seen some of the world's worst floods in the
past 100 years. The 1931 Yellow River flood is one of the most devastating
natural disasters ever recorded—almost a million people drowned, and even
more were left homeless.

Natural Causes of Floods

Floods occur naturally. They are part of the water cycle, and the
environment is adapted to flooding. Wetlands along river banks, lakes, and
estuaries absorb flood waters. Wetland vegetation, such as trees, grasses,
and sedges, slow the speed of flood waters and more evenly distribute
their energy. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
the wetlands along the Mississippi River once stored at least 60 days of
flood water. (Today, Mississippi wetlands store only 12 days of flood water.
Most wetlands have been filled or drained.)

Floods can also devastate an environment. The most vulnerable regions are
those that experience frequent floods and those that have not flooded for
many years. In the first case, the environment does not have time to recover
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between floods. In the second case, the environment may not be able to
adapt to flood conditions.

In August 2010, Pakistan experienced some of the worst floods of the

century. The annual monsoon, on which Pakistani farmers and consumers
rely, was unusually strong. Tons of water drenched the nation. The Indus
River burst its banks. Because the river flows almost directly through the
narrow country, almost all of Pakistan was affected by flooding.

Millions of Pakistanis lost their homes, and almost 2,000 died in the floods.
The province of Punjab, the country’s agricultural center, was particularly
devastated. Rice, wheat, and corn crops were destroyed. The impact of the
floods continued long after the monsoon dwindled and the Indus subsided.
Pakistanis experienced food shortages, power outages, and loss of
infrastructure. Outbreaks of cholera and malaria developed near
resettlement camps. Experts estimated that the rebuilding effort would
cost up to $15 billion.

Sometimes, floods are triggered by other natural disasters, such as

earthquakes and tsunamis. In January 2011, a major earthquake struck off
the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The quake triggered a massive
tsunami, its crest reaching as high as 40 meters (131 feet). The tsunami
crashed more than 10 kilometers (six miles) inland, flooding homes,
businesses, schools, parks, hospitals, and the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear
Power Plant. A dam holding a reservoir burst, triggering another flood that
destroyed homes.

Rain that accompanies hurricanes and cyclones can quickly flood coastal
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areas. The rise in sea level that occurs during these storms is called a
storm surge. A storm surge is a type of coastal flood. They can be
devastating. The storm surge that accompanied the 1970 Bhola cyclone
flooded the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta in India and Bangladesh.
More than 500,000 people were killed, and twice that number were left
homeless.

The strong winds associated with hurricanes and cyclones can also whip up
and move huge amounts of water, forcing a storm surge far inland. In 2005,
Hurricane Katrina brought huge amounts of wind and rain to the Gulf Coast
of the United States. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, was particularly
hard-hit. The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina caused some of the city’s
levees to break. Levees protect New Orleans from the Mississippi River. The
river rushed in and flooded entire neighborhoods. Hundreds of people
drowned, and the storm did more than $100 billion in damage.

Artificial Causes of Floods

Floods can also have artificial sources. Many man-made floods are
intentional and controlled.

Rice farmers, for instance, rely on flooded fields. Rice is a semi-aquatic crop
—it grows in water. After rice seedlings are planted, farmers flood their
fields, called rice paddies, in about 15 to 25 centimeters (six to 10 inches) of
water. Rice paddies must be carefully engineered to allow controlled
flooding. Strong dikes or levees, as well as regulated channels for irrigation,
are required.

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Sometimes, engineers flood an area to restore an ecosystem. In 2008, the

U.S.'s Grand Canyon was deliberately flooded. Water was released from
dams on the Colorado River, which runs through the Grand Canyon. In 20
minutes, enough water was released from a dam at Lake Powell, Utah, to fill
up the Empire State Building. Hydrologists, engineers, and
environmentalists hoped that flooding the canyon would help redistribute
sediment—which had been blocked up by dams—and create sandbars.
Sandbars provide a wildlife habitat, often serving as a shallow bridge for
animals such as beavers and bighorn sheep to cross from one side of the
river to the other.

Dams control the natural flood plains of lakes and rivers. Hydrologists may
intentionally flood areas to prevent damage to the dam or increase the
water supply for agriculture, industry, or consumer use.

Engineers may also intentionally flood areas to prevent the possibility of

worse flooding. When heavy rains caused the Souris River to flood in 2011,
for example, the water level nearly reached the top of the Alameda
Reservoir in Oxbow, Saskatchewan, Canada. Faced with the prospect of
catastrophic flooding if the entire dam broke, engineers chose to release
huge amounts of water. The reservoir remained intact, but the release
contributed to massive floods in both Saskatchewan and the U.S. city of
Minot, North Dakota.

Not all man-made floods are intentional, however. The natural banks of
rivers and streams shrink as people develop land nearby. River banks are
valuable real estate for housing, businesses, and industry. From Shanghai,
China, to San Antonio, Texas, U.S., rivers are the sites of busy urban areas. In
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rural areas, factories use river currents to distribute runoff. To accommodate

such development, river banks are paved with hard, non-porous materials.
Soils and plants are replaced with concrete and asphalt, which can’t absorb
water. An unusual amount of rain can cause these rivers to quickly overrun
their concrete banks.

Australia is conducting an investigation of Brisbane’s development

decisions after the Brisbane River overran its banks and flooded the
country’s capital in 2011. Streets, downtown business districts, and bridges
were destroyed. Water reached the third row of seats in the city’s rugby
stadium. The flood waters were high enough at two meters (six feet) that
bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) were spotted swimming up major streets.

Concrete banks also increase the amount of runoff flowing to nearby bodies
of water. This increases the risk of coastal flooding. Venice, Italy, for
instance, is frequently flooded as tides from the Adriatic Sea seep into the
heavily developed islands on which the city rests.

Hydrologists, engineers, and city planners constantly work to reduce flood

damage. Shrubs and plants create buffers to prevent runoff from seeping
into flood plains, urban areas, or other bodies of water. The thick
vegetation between a river and a flood plain is called a riparian zone.

Despite their efforts, people can also radically fail to control floods. The
most famous flood in American history, the Johnstown Flood, was an
artificial disaster. The tragedy killed 2,209 people and made headlines
around the country.

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Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S., was on a floodplain at the meeting of the

Stony Creek and Little Conemaugh rivers. As more people moved to the
city, the banks of the rivers were paved and narrowed, causing yearly
flooding. Residents were prepared for this. They watched the river and
moved their belongings upstairs or onto rooftops as the city flooded.

However, residents were not prepared for the additional flood from an
entire lake. Located in nearby mountains, Lake Conemaugh was a reservoir
created by the South Fork Dam. The lake was an exclusive retreat for
members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which owned the
dam. Lake Conemaugh contained 20 million tons of water.

On May 31, 1889, the dam broke and the water rushed down the river at 64
kilometers (40 miles) per hour. Johnstown’s leading industry was steel
production, and the flood waters quickly became choked with industrial
debris—steel cables, chemical solvents, glass, rail cars. The flood destroyed
a wire factory, filling the water with tons of barbed wire. About 80 people
died when floating wreckage caught fire.

Rebuilding Johnstown took years—the bodies of some victims were not

found until 20 years later. Although the South Fork Fishing and Hunting
Club failed to maintain the dam, members of the club successfully argued
that the disaster was an “act of God.”

Flood Classification

Disaster experts classify floods according to their likelihood of occurring in a

given time period. The most common classifications are a 10-year flood, a
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50-year flood, and a 100-year flood. A 100-year flood, for example, is an

extremely large, destructive event that would be expected to happen only
once every century.

But this is only an estimate. What “100-year flood” actually means is that
there is a 1 percent chance that such a flood could happen in any given year.
In recent decades, 100-year floods have occurred more frequently. This may
be due to global warming, the current period of climate change.

The Red River, which flows along the border of North Dakota and
Minnesota, chronically floods. Anything over 8.5 meters (28 feet) is
considered “flood stage” in the area. In 1997, the river crested at almost 12
meters (40 feet), a record level. In 2009, the record was beaten as the river
flooded again, reaching a height of almost 12.5 meters (40.8 feet). The river
flooded for 61 days.

Flash floods can develop within hours of heavy rainfall. Flash floods can be
extremely dangerous, instantly turning a babbling brook into a thundering
wall of water that sweeps away everything in its path. Most deaths from
flooding occur as a result of flash floods. Flash floods do not have a system
for classifying their magnitude.

Deserts are vulnerable to flash floods. Wadis and arroyos are dry river beds
that only flow during heavy rains. Wadis can be dangerous during flash
floods because they rarely have riparian zones to slow the flood’s energy.
The city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, developed on the site of several wadis,
and floods are frequent after heavy rains. More than 100 people died in
flash floods in Jeddah in 2009. The floods developed so quickly that many
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victims drowned in their cars as streets became submerged.

Predicting Floods

Today, hydrologists study past flood patterns to help predict where and
when floods will happen in the future. The predictions are only estimates,
however. Weather, land, and climate can all change.

An area’s soil and groundwater provide clues about flooding. Pedologists,

or soil scientists, work with hydrologists to determine how much water a
region’s earth can absorb. Agricultural soil, for instance, can absorb much
more water than sand or bare rock. Groundwater is water already in the
earth—in soil, underground reservoirs called aquifers, and even porous
rocks. The type of soil and the amount of groundwater tells hydrologists
how much more water the earth can absorb.

Determining the amount of runoff in an area can also provide clues about
the possibility of flooding. Runoff happens when there is more water than
soil can absorb. Excess water overflows and runs on top of the land. Runoff
can come from natural processes, such as icemelt. It can also come from
human activity, such as excess irrigation, sewage, and industrial waste.
Controlling runoff can help control floods.

Hydrologists work with meteorologists to evaluate snowfall and snowpack.

Melting snow contributes to runoff and increases groundwater levels. When
snow melts quickly, the ground may not have time to absorb the water.
Snowfall is one of the biggest contributors to flooding, and cannot always
be predicted. Rapid snowmelt in the Andes Mountains, for example, creates
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mudslides and floods that disable railways and bridges. In 2010, snowmelt
flooding trapped 4,000 tourists in towns near the remote historic site of
Machu Picchu, Peru, for two days.

Modern technology helps researchers predict floods. Doppler radar, for

example, shows scientists where a storm is most severe. Doppler uses
motion to detect weather patterns and create computerized images of
rainfall. Automated gauges placed in rivers measure the height and speed
of river currents, and the amount of rain received.
Geographic information system (GIS) maps made with this information help
scientists warn people if a river will overrun its banks and flood areas
nearby.

Preventing Floods

For thousands of years, people have tried to prevent and control floods.
Yu the Great, for example, is a legendary figure in Chinese history. Around
2100 B.C.E., Yu developed a way to control the devastating floods of the
Yellow River. Yu studied data from previous Yellow River floods, noting
where the flow was the strongest and flood plains were most vulnerable.
Instead of damming the river, Yu dredged it—he and a team of engineers
made river channels deeper to accommodate more water. Yu also oversaw
the construction of numerous irrigation canals, which diverted the flow of
the river’s mainstem during times of flooding.

It’s not always possible to prevent floods, but it is often possible to minimize
flood damage. Structures around rivers, lakes, and the sea can contain flood
waters. Levees, runoff canals, and reservoirs can stop water from
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overflowing.

Levees are usually made of earth. They are built by piling soil, sand, or rocks
near a river’s banks. Levees may also be made of blocks of wood, plastic, or
metal. They may even be reinforced by concrete. Levees in New Orleans, for
example, use compacted earth, wooden beams, iron rebar, steel pilings,
and concrete to hold back the mighty Mississippi River.

Runoff canals are man-made channels. These structures are connected to

rivers and direct excess water away from buildings and residences. One of
the first canals in North America was constructed in about 200 B.C.E. to
control the seasonal flood waters of Lake Okeechobee, Florida, U.S. Today,
southern Florida is criss-crossed by runoff canals that redirect the flow of
the Everglades, the “River of Grass” that runs from Lake Okeechobee to the
Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. These canals redirect flood water away
from urban areas in southern Florida and toward irrigation canals primarily
used for fields of sugar cane.

Natural and artificial reservoirs help prevent flooding. Natural reservoirs are
basins where fresh water collects. Man-made reservoirs collect water
behind a dam. They can hold more water in times of heavy rainfall. In April
2011, the government of Ethiopia announced plans for a large dam on the
Blue Nile River. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which would be the
largest dam in Africa, would create a reservoir capable of holding 67 billion
cubic meters (2.4 trillion cubic feet) of water. The dam would prevent
flooding downstream and provide the nation with hydroelectric energy.

Conserving wetlands also reduces the impact of floods. Wetlands provide a

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natural barrier, acting as a giant sponge for storm surges and flood plains.
The swamps and bayous of America's southern Louisiana and Mississippi, for
instance, protect inland areas from both coastal and riverine flooding.
Wetlands absorb the storm surge from hurricanes that hit the area from the
Gulf of Mexico. Wetland riparian zones that line the Mississippi River
protect fertile flood plains as the river overflows its banks.

Many governments mandate that residents of flood-prone areas purchase

flood insurance and build flood-resistant structures. Massive efforts to
mitigate and redirect floods have resulted in some of the most ambitious
engineering efforts ever seen. The Thames Barrier is one of the largest
flood-control projects in the world. The Thames Barrier protects the urban
area of London, England, from floods from storm surges that rush up the
River Thames from the Atlantic Ocean. A series of 10 steel gates span the
river near London’s Woolrich district. Each gate can hold back 9,000 tons of
water, and disappears into the river when the water is calm.

Perhaps the most extensive and sophisticated flood-prevention program is

the Zuiderzee Works in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is a low-lying
nation that is plagued by coastal flooding from the North Sea. Beginning in
the 1200s, the Dutch began to erect a series of massive dikes and levees on
its coast. In the 1900s, Dutch engineers worked to isolate and dam an entire
inlet of the North Sea, the Zuiderzee. The largest part of the Zuiderzee
Works is the Afsluitdijk, a 32-kilometer (20-mile) dike that cuts off the
Zuiderzee from the North Sea. In addition to protecting the Netherlands
from flooding, the Zuiderzee Works has drained parts of the Zuiderzee for
development.

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FA ST FAC T

Apres Moi, le Deluge

"After me, the flood" (in French, "apres moi, le deluge") is a phrase
attributed to the French King Louis XV or his mistress, Madame de
Pompadour.

The phrase is a casual way of expressing irresponsibility,

something like "When I leave a project, I don't care if a
catastrophe happens. It no longer concerns me."

FA ST FAC T

London Beer Flood

In 1814, vats containing 1.47 million liters (388,333 gallons) of beer
spilled in the St. Giles area of London, England. Several homes and
businesses were destroyed, and seven people drowned.

FA ST FAC T

Costliest U.S. Floods

As of July 2011, according to the Federal Emergency Management
Association (FEMA):

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Hurricane Katrina (2005)

$16.2 billion
Hurricane Ike (2008)
$2.6 billion
Hurricane Ivan (2004)
$1.2 billion
Tropical Storm Allison (1989)
$1.1 billion
Louisiana Flood (1995)
$585 million

FA ST FAC T

Flood Myths
Stories about great, Earth-drowning floods are common
throughout world cultures. Many stories are remarkably similar: A
deity warns a virtuous man about a catastrophic flood. The man
builds a large boat, saving himself, his family, animals, and plants
from the flood, which destroys the rest of Earth. Eventually, the
man releases two birds to see if they bring back vegetation (which
can only grow in soil). A bird returns, and human civilization is
saved.

The most famous version of this flood myth is probably the story
of Noah, recorded in the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran. Another
version is the Mesopotamian legend of Utnapishtim, recorded in
the Legend of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest works of literature,
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predating the Torah by more than a thousand years. The Maasai

legend of Tumbainot, the Altai myth of Nama, and the Hawaiian
myth of Nuu are all remarkably similar.

FA ST FAC T

Flood as a War Tactic

In 1937, the Chinese government destroyed the dike at
Huayuankou, on the Yellow River, to stop the Japanese invasion.
The invasion continued by a different route, but the
environmental devastation of the flooding was immense. At least
800,000 people drowned, and more than a million were made
homeless. More than a thousand square kilometers of farmland
was underwater. Flooding changed the course of the Yellow River
to such an extent that its mouth moved dozens of kilometers to
the south. Ten years later, the dike at Huayuankou was rebuilt and
the Yellow River resumed its previous course.

FA ST FAC T

Boston Molasses Flood

In 1919, an 8.7 million-liter (2.3 million-gallon) tank of molasses
exploded in the North End area of Boston, Massachusetts, United
States. The wave of molasses crested as high as three meters (10
feet) and moved as quickly as 56 kilometers per hour (35 miles per

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hour). A train was lifted off its tracks, and 21 people died. Six
months later, Boston Harbor remained brown with molasses.

FA ST FAC T

"The Hero of Haarlem"

A popular story concerns a young boy from the town of Haarlem,
Netherlands, who notices a leak in the town's dike. The Spaarne
River is flowing through a tiny hole in the barrier, threatening to
flood the town. The young boy plugs the leak with his finger, and
stays there all night. Adults find him the next morning and
permanently repair the leak. Although first written about by an
American (Mary Mapes Dodge, in her book Hans Brinker, or the
Silver Skates), the story is from the Netherlands.

The story has been changed and retold many times. In most
versions, the dike is holding back the North Sea, not a river. In
some versions of the story, the young boy freezes to death during
his all-night stay at the dike.

FA ST FAC T

Toxic Flood
There are many examples of toxic materials, from pig manure to
coal slurry, flooding communities. One of the most unusual was

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the 2010 rupture of a chemical storage tank at an aluminum

factory in Ajka, Hungary. The bright-red sludge was responsible
for at least four deaths, as well as the relocation of hundreds of
Hungarians. The toxic sludge, which included lead and arsenic,
was eventually diluted by the Danube River.

Articles & Profiles

National Weather Service: Severe Weather 101 - Floods

National Flood Insurance Program: Flood Insurance Data and Analytics

EPA: Protecting Children's Health During and After Natural Disasters

National Park Service: Johnstown Flood National Memorial

National Geographic Environment: Floods

Audio & Video

National Geographic Channel: Earth: The Biography—Origins of the

Ocean

The Environment Agency: How the Thames Barrier Works

Images

National Geographic Science: Flood Pictures: Mississippi River at Its

Worst

Maps

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FEMA: Flood Maps

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