New Discovering: 10 Major Factors that Causes Floods
Flooding is experienced all over the globe and for a variety of reasons — but why exactly does flooding occur? There are several human causes of flooding, including poorly designed infrastructure. There are also natural reasons flooding happens.
What is flood?
Flood is a term used to denote an enormous amount of water. When there is an outflow of water in a place, it is said to be flooded. The situation caused when the water becomes uncontrollable is said to be flooded. The flood may take different forms such as in the form of heavy rainfall when there is a breaking of the dam.
Furthermore, the melting of snow also leads to flooding. Floods lead to an overfull and huge spread of water but are not considered safe for the purpose of drinking. Thus floods bring with them a number of diseases such as typhoid, cholera and many others. Here, we shall discuss the various causes of floods.
What Causes a Flood?
Severe flooding is caused by atmospheric conditions that lead to heavy rain or the rapid melting of snow and ice. Geography can also make an area more likely to flood. For example, areas near rivers and cities are often at risk for flash floods.
A flood is an overflow of water onto land that is normally dry. Floods can happen almost anywhere. They can cover an area with just a few inches of water or they can bring enough water to cover the roof of a house. Floods can be dangerous for communities, lasting days, and weeks or sometimes even longer. Many different situations can cause a flood.
10 Major Factors that Causes Floods
Flood is usually a result of natural causes. It may also be caused by manmade factors. It causes huge damage to life and property. There are many different causes leading to flooding.
Here are 10 Major Factors that Causes of Floods:
1. Heavy Rains
The simplest explanation for flooding is heavy rains. No matter where you live, you are surrounded by infrastructure and systems designed to move rainwater into appropriate basins and reservoirs.
In most cases, the infrastructure does its job, and you never have to think about where the rain goes when it runs off.
When it rains heavily, however, those systems are overwhelmed, and that water doesn’t drain nearly as quickly as it needs to. In short, the drainage systems back up, and the water rises — sometimes into homes. This typically happens only in cases of sustained heavy rains over a long period.
2. Collapsed Dams
In the event of huge rainfall, the dams built begin to collapse. Thus, causing the flood situation to become even critical for the people living around. Much of America’s infrastructure was built in the 20th century, so it is getting old. When heavy rains come, and water levels rise, aging dams can fail and unleash torrents of water on unsuspecting households.
Levees failed and made the flooding far worse than it would have been otherwise. While we have come to depend on 20th-century architecture, and much of it does its job well, there is always a possibility that a structure will fail.
3. Channels with Steep Sides
Flooding often occurs when there is fast runoff into lakes, rivers and other reservoirs. This is often the case with rivers and other channels that feature steep sides. It is a similar issue to having a lack of vegetation, which is explained in more detail below.
4. Overflowing Rivers
You do not necessarily need to have heavy rains to experience flooding in your area. For example, if you live along a river and areas upstream from you experience heavy rains; it could lead to a serious overflow where you live. Larger rivers include a series of dams to help manage large amounts of rainfall, and most river systems are managed by government authorities. Sometimes, however, those authorities have to make tough decisions about how to operate dams. They often can manage the water and prevent èooding altogether — but not always.
5. Melting Snow and Ice
A winter of heavy snow and other precipitation can lead to a spring of flooding. After all, that snow and ice have to go somewhere when they melt. Most mountainous areas experience relatively consistent snowfall totals from year to year, but an unusually heavy winter of precipitation can spell bad news for low-lying areas around the mountains when spring hits.
The good news is that sustained winter precipitation provides a long lead time to prepare for potential flooding. That is a silver lining at the very least. These are just a few examples of common causes of floods, but there does not need to be an incredible weather event for you to experience flooding at your home. You can experience devastating flooding simply due to a clogged or broken pipe as well as other plumbing issues. No matter how or why you experience a flood, you need a qualified water restoration professional with quality tools to help you get your home back into working order again.
6. Urban Drainage Basins
Many of our cities are made of mostly concrete and other impermeable material. When you have an urban drainage basin that is made of concrete, there is no ground for water to sink into. So, when those drainage basins fill up, it is going to mean flooding for low-lying areas. This is mostly the case in large urban areas thinks Houston and Los Angeles. When heavy rains strike, the basins used to drain them cannot always handle the load.
7. Deforestation
The cutting of trees in a reckless manner i.e. deforestation is also a major cause of manmade flooding. Trees prevent soil erosion and also the loss of crops. The vegetation is also enriched as a result of more and more trees. This also blocks the massive flow of rain, thus preventing flooding.
8. Storm Surges and Tsunamis
Rain is not always the culprit when it comes to flooding. Storm surges related to hurricanes and other storms can lead to significant flooding, as can tsunamis that are sometimes caused by underwater earthquakes. Given modern technology, we often know about storm surges and tsunamis before they arrive, but this is not always the case. For example, in 2004, an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia created a tsunami that gave little warning before coming ashore.
9. A Lack of Vegetation
Vegetation can help slow runoff and prevent flooding. When there is a lack of vegetation, however, there is little to stop water from running off. This can be a bit of a conundrum after a drought. While area residents likely welcome the rain, the lack of vegetation after the drought can cause flash flooding. This does not always happen given that basins and reservoirs are close to empty, but it can occur in cases of extreme rains following long periods of drought.
10. Emission of Greenhouse Gases
The burning of fossil fuels, the industrial influences, the pollution all is depleting the level of the ozone layer and increasing the level of greenhouse gases, becoming a major cause of manmade flooding.
Other Factors
The broken supply lines cause the outflow of water but lead to less damage. Also, there is water flow from the washing machines. Furthermore, overflow from dishwashers worsens the situation.
Also, the lack of proper sewage systems adds to the destruction of this natural disaster.
Thus, a flood can be caused both due to natural causes as well as it can be a human made flood. Flood causes a huge loss of life and property. Waterborne diseases spread as a result of Floods causing health problems.
Moreover, the destruction of roads and infrastructure facilities, the disturbance of ecosystems, improper sewage systems all demand serious efforts of adopting sustainable measures.
Taking steps such as afforestation, decreased the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere could help.
Also, enrichment of vegetation, fewer deeds causing pollution and treatment of sewage could be useful ways to combat the situation.
Geography can also make an area more likely to flood. For example, areas near rivers are often at risk for floods. Urban areas (areas near cities) are also at higher risk for floods because rooftops funnel rainfall to the ground below, and paved surfaces such as highways and parking lots prevent the ground from absorbing the rain.
What is a flash flood?
Flash floods are very dangerous floods that can happen with little or no warning. When there is more rain than the soil can absorb, the excess water quickly runs into rivers and creeks, overwhelming storm drains and ditches and causing a flash flood. Flash floods can cause water to rise significantly in a short amount of time.
Where does all of that rain come from?
Several different weather conditions can cause extreme rainfall in a region. Tropical cyclones form in some tropical and subtropical areas, usually in the summer and fall. When they appear in the Atlantic Ocean or the northwest part of the Pacific Ocean and reach certain intensity, they are called hurricanes.
Tropical cyclones can produce huge amounts of rain, causing flooding and flash flooding once the storm reaches land. They can also send a rush of water from the ocean onto coastlines in an event called a storm surge, which floods low-lying areas.
Another phenomenon that can cause extreme rainfall is called an atmospheric river. Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow conveyor belts of moisture that move through the atmosphere. Strong atmospheric rivers can deliver enormous amounts of rain and snow in California, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, especially during the winter months. This can lead to serious flooding and mudslides.
How do satellites help during floods?
Weather satellites, like those in NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOESR) series, keep an eye on atmospheric events that can lead to flooding. For example, the GOESR series satellites are equipped with an instrument called the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), which can detect and monitor the formation of atmospheric rivers.
The ABI can also determine the amount of total moisture in the atmosphere from the ground all the way to the top of the atmosphere. This provides useful information for weather forecasters to improve predictions for heavy rains and flash flooding and help people stay safe. After flooding occurs, weather satellites can also be used to spot heavily flooded regions from space.
Information from GOESR and the NOAANASA Suomi NPP satellite can be used to create “flood maps.” These maps help officials quickly determine where to send help and resources during a flood.
