Flood Information, Flooding Facts, Flash Floods, Photos. There are few places on Earth where people need not be concerned about flooding.
Any place where rain falls is vulnerable, although rain is not the only impetus for flood. A flood occurs when water overflows or inundates land that's normally dry. This can happen in a multitude of ways. Most common is when rivers or streams overflow their banks. Excessive rain, a ruptured dam or levee, rapid ice melting in the mountains, or even an unfortunately placed beaver dam can overwhelm a river and send it spreading over the adjacent land, called a floodplain. Most floods take hours or even days to develop, giving residents ample time to prepare or evacuate. Disaster experts classify floods according to their likelihood of occurring in a given time period. Moving water has awesome destructive power. In the United States, where flood mitigation and prediction is advanced, floods do about $6 billion worth of damage and kill about 140 people every year.
BBC Earth - Flood videos show their causes and devastating impacts. Floods. Floods What causes floods?
Floods are often caused by extreme weather. Heavy rainfall causes rivers to overflow their banks. The extra water flows on to low lying areas on either side of the river. Usually floods develop over several days. Flooding in coastal areas occurs when high tides combine with severe storms. Floods can also occur when rainwater has nowhere to drain to and collects on the ground. What are floodplains and coastal plains? Floodplains and coastal plains are areas of land adjacent to rivers and coasts that provide natural storage for excess water in times of flood. Building on floodplains increases the likelihood of floods occurring, because development on this land reduces it ability to soak up water. What are the effects of a flood? Floods can be very dangerous. But floods can also bring benefits. When was the world’s largest flood? Some of the largest floods on Earth occurred during the last ice age.
How Floods Work" National Geographic. FLOODS. Weather Wiz Kids weather information for kids. Rain & Floods How does rain form?
Water droplets form from warm air. As the warm air rises in the sky it cools. Water vapor (invisible water in the air) always exists in our air. Warm air holds quite a bit of water. For example, in the summer it is usually very humid. What causes rain? How big are raindrops? How fast do raindrops fall? Do flash floods hurt people? How much water is needed for your car to float away? What is a monsoon? What is Doppler Radar? What is NEXRAD Radar? Know the Lingo FLOOD WATCH - means that an overflow of water from a river is possible for your area.
Flood Safety Tips BEFORE A FLOOD: Have a disaster plan and prepare a disaster supplies kit for your home and car. Rain Activities Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on learning about precipitation. Make A Barometer Experiment: Here is an experiment that allows the kids to make a barometer. Evaporation Experiment: Here is an experiment that shows kids how evaporation takes place. Floods and Flooding. River Severn | River Thames A flood is water which covers land that is normally dry.
Floods are caused by extreme weather conditions. Floods may be caused by: rivers overflowing their banks after heavy rainfall the sea flooding the land, as a result of heavy winds pushing the sea up against the coast volcanic eruptions under the sea causing a huge wave, called a tsuanami. River flooding occurs when there is too much water for the ground to absorb, through infiltration, and the surface run-off overflows the normal river channel.
A flood plain is the flat land on either side of a river that becomes flooded when a river spills from its channel. The photographs below show Tonbridge Sportsground at the start of the year 2003. We wont be flying our kites here today or playing football. Can you see the park bench and the bin beside it? Any one for a picnic? The flood water covered the whole recreation ground including the children's play area. But it didn't stop the children having fun!