Flood
hideA flood is an overflow or accumulation of an expanse of water that submerges land. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows or breaks levees, with the result that some of the water escapes its normal boundaries. While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, it is not a significant flood unless such escapes of water endanger land areas used by man like a village, city or other inhabited area.
Floods can also occur in rivers, when the strength of the river is so high it flows out of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders and causes damage to homes and businesses along such rivers. While flood damage can be virtually eliminated by moving away from rivers and other bodies of water, since time out of mind, people have lived and worked by the water to seek sustenance and capitalize on the gains of cheap and easy travel and commerce by being near water. That humans continue to inhabit areas threatened by flood damage is evidence that the perceived value of living near the water exceeds the cost of repeated periodic flooding.
The word "flood" comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic languages (compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float). The specific term "The Flood," capitalized, usually refers to the great Universal Deluge described in the Bible, in Genesis, and is treated at Deluge.
For more information about Flood, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with flood
USGS monitoring Twitter for earthquake details
Dec 15, 2009 |
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(AP) -- OMG! Earthquake!
Mediterranean Sea filled in less than two years: study
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 09, 2009 |
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The Mediterranean Sea was mostly filled in less than two years in a dramatic flood around 5.33 million years ago in which water poured in from the Atlantic, according to a study published Wednesday.
Salazar calls for high flows into Colorado River
Dec 11, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is calling for more manmade floods to be released from the Glen Canyon Dam into the Colorado River.
Scientists pinpoint origin of dissolved arsenic in Bangladesh drinking water
Nov 15, 2009 |
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Researchers in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled ...
Dutch build more dunes against rising seas
Nov 20, 2009 |
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On the beach at Monster, bulldozers painstakingly turn sand dredged from the bottom of the North Sea bed into dunes in an ambitious effort to safeguard the Netherlands from flooding.
Taiwan scientists identify flood-tolerant gene in rice
Oct 11, 2009 |
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A Taiwanese scientist has said her research team has found the gene that allows rice to grow under water and believes the breakthrough could help develop other flood-resistant crops.
Satellite imagery confirms Ida's low is finally moving away from the east coast
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 13, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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Satellite imagery and weather ground station readings today along the Mid-Atlantic indicate "Ida the coastal low pressure area" is finally moving away from the U.S. east coast.
Tibet drought worst in 30 years: Chinese state media
Jun 20, 2009 |
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A drought in Tibet has intensified into the region's worst in three decades, leaving thousands of hectares parched and killing more than 13,000 head of cattle, China's state media said Saturday.
China says planning more dams on troubled Yangtze
Apr 21, 2009 |
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China will build at least 20 more reservoirs or hydroelectric projects in the Yangtze river system by 2020, the government said Tuesday, despite growing concerns over dam construction there.
Scientists prepare for large-scale glacial floods (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Surging floods as powerful as the Amazon could hit parts of Europe within decades, according to new research.
Danube delta holds answers to 'Noah's flood' debate (Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 23, 2009 |
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Did a catastrophic flood of biblical proportions drown the shores of the Black Sea 9,500 years ago, wiping out early Neolithic settlements around its perimeter? A geologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) ...
Dutch help California's Bay Area plan for sea level rise
Sep 22, 2009 |
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How to plan for sea level rise, a still-abstract concept for many Californians, drew serious consideration from engineers, designers and urban planners from Holland and the U.S. at a symposium held on Monday.
Global warming to triple rain over Taiwan: scientist
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 13, 2009 |
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Global warming will cause the amount of heavy rain dumped on Taiwan to triple over the next 20 years, facing the government with the urgent need to beef up flood defences, a scientist warned Tuesday.
Hurricane Katrina: Phone home
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 06, 2009 |
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Though New Orleans residents were told to evacuate days before the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, no one could have predicted the real extent of the devastation.
Melting snow threatens spring flooding in north
Mar 19, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The Red River of the North along the Minnesota-North Dakota border faces the nation's greatest threat of spring flooding, the government said in it's weather outlook Thursday.
