Flooding Damages and Proper Ways to Control It
The generally accepted definition of a flood is a body of water covering land usually dry under normal circumstances. Floods are natural catastrophes. They interfere with lives of millions of people across the globe. Among other effects, they destroy premises, influence soil erosion and contaminate water for drinking. Causes of floods are many including overflowing lakes, rivers as well as seas. Human life shares history with floods. Civilization in ancient times took place along waterways. The reason was simple as human life needs water.
Flooding also carries its good side in spite of the many negative effects. Fertility of the land around River Nile in Egypt owes its allegiance to floods by the same river. The deposition took place way before Aswan high Dam was put up to control the floods. Despite their fatal nature, floods deposit fertile soil in Bangladesh during the monsoon season. It is besides the fact that so many lives are lost in the process.
Plain land next to rivers will always flood at least once every year. Rains result in more water for rivers to carry. Melting of snow in the mountains where most rivers have sources is another cause for floods. Flash floods are caused by thunderstorms in many ways. The capacity of rivers becomes ten more times their usual strength. Slow moving rivers carry silt, sand and water. In the process, they put up their beds. Beds raise rivers above their normal level even in comparison to the land that hosts them. Examples of such rivers are in Chicago.
Phoenix AZ Rivers build floods slowly but the result is more damaging. A bigger area is affected by these floods. Floods do not spare even coastal lands found in areas such as Fort Myers. Waves from floor tsunamis raise up to a high of 15 meters. Courtesy of the height of waves, floods affect land that several miles away from the coast. In the Indian Ocean for instance, a tsunami that was devastating resulted in more than a quarter a million deaths. Affected countries included Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia among others.
Experts also point at Cyclones, hurricanes as well as tropical storms as other causes of floods. The whole region of Mississippi Delta felt the strength of Hurricane Katrina as it did Chicago. Fort Myers and Phoenix AZ felt too. Responsible authorities whisked people away to avoid more deaths. Low-lying areas have a higher risk of flooding. The Netherlands is one such country. Haiti was compounded and almost crashed by floods.
What people do in many ways contributes to floods. Trees and other plants are helpful in absorbing excess water. Water flows through bare land following deforestation. These actions cause mudslides during rainy seasons. Dangerous cracks on dams by excess water are evident. In fact; total breakage is the final result. Many methods are developed o take care of the effects of floods. Water in Netherlands is controlled by erected dams and dykes.