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
Mediterranean Sea filled in less than two years: study
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 09, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (23) |
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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.
USGS monitoring Twitter for earthquake details
Dec 15, 2009 |
3 / 5 (1) |
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(AP) -- OMG! Earthquake!
Salazar calls for high flows into Colorado River
Dec 11, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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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.
Search results for flood
Tiny whispering gallery: Sensor can detect a single nanoparticle and take its measurement
Dec 18, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (16) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Nanotechnology has already made it to the shelves of your local pharmacy and grocery: nanoparticles are found in anti-odor socks, makeup, makeup remover, sunscreen, anti-graffiti paint, home ...
Unique 'Climate One Stop' Web Site Unveiled in Copenhagen
Dec 15, 2009 |
2.9 / 5 (9) |
6
There's a storm brewing -- a storm of information, that is, in climate and environmental research. People are wading through the turbulence, trying to make sense of it all.
Yellowstone's plumbing exposed
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (48) |
18
(PhysOrg.com) -- The most detailed seismic images yet published of the plumbing that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano shows a plume of hot and molten rock rising at an angle from the northwest at a depth ...
Lawmakers seek emergency steps to halt Asian carp
Dec 12, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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(AP) -- Members of Congress are demanding emergency action to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes and devastating their $7 billion fishery.
A social network that ballooned
Dec 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- On Tuesday, Dec. 1, members of the MIT Media Lab’s Human Dynamics Laboratory received an e-mail with a $40,000 proposition. The U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects ...
XMM-Newton celebrates decade of discovery
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 09, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory is celebrating its 10th anniversary. During its decade of operation, this remarkable space observatory has supplied new data for every aspect of astronomy. ...
Cholera bacteria show adaptability to changing environments
Dec 08, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The deadly bacterium behind cholera epidemics spends only a fraction of its life infecting humans. Most of the time, Vibrio cholerae lurks in estuaries and other semisalty aquatic habitats.
With amino acid diet, mice improve after brain injury
Dec 07, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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Neurology researchers have shown that feeding amino acids to brain-injured animals restores their cognitive abilities and may set the stage for the first effective treatment for cognitive impairments suffered by people with ...
Global warming may require higher dams, stilts
Dec 03, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (9) |
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(AP) -- With the world losing the battle against global warming so far, experts are warning that humans need to follow nature's example: Adapt or die.
Good stress response enhances recovery from surgery, study shows
Dec 01, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
The right kind of stress response in the operating room could lead to quicker recovery for patients after knee surgery, according to a new study led by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers. The results could ...
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