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Home Tips > Useful > Flood A Flood Is An Overflow Of Water, An Expanse Of Water Submerging Land, A Deluge. In many arid regions of the world, the soil has very poor water retention characteristics, or the amount of rainfall exceeds the ground's ability to absorb water. When a rainfall does occur, it can sometimes result in a sudden flood of water filling dry streambeds known as a "flash flood".
Monsoon rainfalls can cause disastrous flooding in some equatorial countries, such as Bangladesh, due to their extended periods of rainfall.
Hurricanes have a number of different features which, together, can cause devastating flooding. One is waves of up to 8 metres high, caused by the leading edge of the hurricane when it moves from sea to land. Another is the large amounts of precipitation associated with hurricanes. The eye of a hurricane has extremely low pressure, so sea level may rise a few metres in the eye of the storm. This type of coastal flooding occurs regularly in Bangladesh.
Under some rare conditions associated with heat waves, flash floods from quickly melting mountain snow has caused loss of property and life.
Undersea earthquakes, eruptions of island volcanoes that form a caldera, may all engender a tidal wave called a tsunami that causes destruction to coast areas.
Floods are the most frequent type of disaster worldwide. Thus, it is often difficult or impossible to obtain insurance policies which cover destruction of property due to flooding, since floods are a relatively predictable risk.
In western countries, rivers prone to flooding are often carefully managed. Defenses such as levees, bunds, reservoirs, and weirs are used to prevent rivers from bursting their banks.
In some flood-prone areas with high population density, such as parts of the Netherlands and England, planning laws have been used to prevent building on flood plains. In some cases, pressure from developers has caused these controls to be eroded, with an increasing number of new developments reliant on artificial defenses for protection from floodwaters.
As an individual, you can take steps to prepare for these types of emergencies. The most dangerous thing you can do is to try walking, swimming, or driving through a flood. You need to head for the high ground and stay away from the water.
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