What is flood, where, when and why they occur

Flooding is a sharp increase in the water level in a river or other body of water. Regardless of the reasons for the occurrence (there may be several), the phenomenon differs from the flood by its short duration and suddenness. That is, when the river or lake after the rain or the sudden melting of snow comes out of the coast, this is a flood. The meaning of the word rather accurately determines the essence of the process.

Possible causes of floods

If we consider the events preceding this phenomenon and become its main cause, then there may be several. First, a long pouring rain, as a result of which the reservoirs come out of the shores. The period of high water after intense precipitation is usually very short and lasts literally for several hours. However, because of its rapidity, even such a short-lived phenomenon can cause serious damage. In case of repeated downpours in the same territory, there are sometimes multi-peak floods. This event is characterized by a periodic flood of reservoirs with the flooding of nearby territories.

What is flood, well known to residents of settlements near the mouths of large rivers. Flood often comes with warming and is the result of the rapid melting of ice and snow. This type of flood continues long enough, but it is easier to predict than the one that occurs after the rain.

Consequences of the phenomenon

The main danger of flood in its unpredictability. Meteorologists can predict precipitation, but their calculations are not always correct, and the rain intensity is not so easy to find out in advance. As a result of flooding of large rivers, there is a rapid flow, capable of destroying houses and other structures, bridges, and washing away equipment. Such a wave can damage agriculture, drown animals and wash crops off the fields.

Unfortunately, residents of settlements located in the lowlands and near the deep rivers, know perfectly well what the flood is, and try to prepare for it well in advance. However, this is possible only if the cause is not rain, but the melting of ice and snow.

Fighting the consequences

Since this event rarely leads to global financial losses, problems arising from such a disaster are resolved at the local level. Undoubtedly, people who survived this disaster and learned from their own experience what the flood is, will agree with the need for emergency rescue operations at the place of its occurrence. But if there are no victims among the population, their lives and health are not threatened, the consequences are eliminated on their own. In the event that significant damage is caused to buildings and property, the state pays compensation. To avoid a repeated flood, dams and other coastline fortifications are being built.

Preventive measures

To ensure that people who survive the flooding of the river with flooding of housing no longer remember what flood is, after the elimination of its consequences, it is necessary to carry out a number of measures aimed at preventing this in the future.

First of all, it is necessary to analyze the possible causes of the event, to understand the mechanism of its occurrence. In some cases, it makes sense to move buildings and other objects located in lowlands to other, more protected places. Also, with the construction of new bridges, the construction of roads, other structures should take into account the possibility of high water. To assess the danger of this phenomenon, constant monitoring of the water level is used. When there is a danger of the release of reservoirs from the coast, the system of early warning of the population is used.

Flooding is a short-term, but rather unpleasant phenomenon. It is expressed in the spillage of rivers and other water bodies as a result of the presence of excessive moisture in them. The best way to deal with floods is to prevent it and the thoughtful activity of a person in low-lying places and other areas of high risk.