A flood happens when water overflows or soaks land that is normally dry. There are few places on Earth where people don’t need to be concerned about flooding. Generally, floods take hours or even days to develop, giving residents time to prepare or evacuate. Sometimes, floods develop quickly and with little warning.
A flood can develop in a many ways. The most common is when rivers or streams overflow their banks. These floods are called riverine floods. Heavy rain, a broken dam or levee, rapid icemelt in the mountains, or even a beaver dam in a vulnerable spot can overwhelm a river and send it spreading over nearby land. The land surrounding a river is called a flood plain.
Coastal flooding, also called estuarine flooding, happens when a large storm or tsunami causes the sea to rush inland.
Floods are the second-most widespread natural disaster on Earth, after wildfires. All 50 of the United States are vulnerable to flooding.
Effects of Floods
When floodwaters recede, affected areas are often blanketed in silt and mud. This sediment can be full of nutrients, benefiting farmers and agribusinesses in the area. Famously fertile flood plains like the Mississippi River valley in the American Midwest, the Nile River valley in Egypt, and the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East have supported agriculture for thousands of years. Yearly flooding has left millions of tons of nutrient-rich soil behind.
However, floods have enormous destructive power. When a river overflows its banks or the sea moves inland, many structures are unable to withstand the force of the water. Bridges, houses, trees, and cars can be picked up and carried off. Floods erode soil, taking it from under a building's foundation, causing the building to crack and tumble. Severe flooding in Bangladesh in July 2007 led to more than a million homes being damaged or destroyed.
Floods can cause even more damage when their waters recede. The water and landscape can be contaminated with hazardous materials, such as sharp debris, pesticides, fuel, and untreated sewage. Potentially dangerous mold can quickly overwhelm water-soaked structures.
As flood water spreads, it carries disease. Flood victims can be left for weeks without clean water for drinking or hygiene. This can lead to outbreaks of deadly diseases like typhoid, malaria, hepatitis A, and cholera. This happened in 2000, as hundreds of people in Mozambique fled to refugee camps after the Limpopo River flooded their homes. They soon fell ill and died from cholera, which is spread by unsanitary conditions, and malaria, spread by mosquitoes that thrived on the swollen river banks.
In the United States, floods are responsible for an average of nearly 100 deaths every year, and cause about $7.5 billion in damage.
China's Yellow River valley has seen some of the world's worst floods in the past 100 years. The 1931 Yellow River flood is one of the most devastating natural disasters ever recorded—almost a million people drowned, and even more were left homeless.
Natural Causes of Floods
Floods occur naturally. They are part of the water cycle, and the environment is adapted to flooding. Wetlands along river banks, lakes, and estuaries absorb flood waters. Wetland vegetation, such as trees, grasses, and sedges, slow the speed of flood waters and more evenly distribute their energy. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the wetlands along the Mississippi River once stored at least 60 days of flood water. (Today, Mississippi wetlands store only 12 days of flood water. Most wetlands have been filled or drained.)
Floods can also devastate an environment. The most vulnerable regions are those that experience frequent floods and those that have not flooded for many years. In the first case, the environment does not have time to recover between floods. In the second case, the environment may not be able to adapt to flood conditions.
In August 2010, Pakistan experienced some of the worst floods of the century. The annual monsoon, on which Pakistani farmers and consumers rely, was unusually strong. Tons of water drenched the nation. The Indus River burst its banks. Because the river flows almost directly through the narrow country, almost all of Pakistan was affected by flooding.
Millions of Pakistanis lost their homes, and almost 2,000 died in the floods. The province of Punjab, the country’s agricultural center, was particularly devastated. Rice, wheat, and corn crops were destroyed. The impact of the floods continued long after the monsoon dwindled and the Indus subsided. Pakistanis experienced food shortages, power outages, and loss of infrastructure. Outbreaks of cholera and malaria developed near resettlement camps. Experts estimated that the rebuilding effort would cost up to $15 billion.
Sometimes, floods are triggered by other natural disasters, such as earthquakes and tsunamis. In January 2011, a major earthquake struck off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The quake triggered a massive tsunami, its crest reaching as high as 40 meters (131 feet). The tsunami crashed more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) inland, flooding homes, businesses, schools, parks, hospitals, and the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. A dam holding a reservoir burst, triggering another flood that destroyed homes.
Rain that accompanies hurricanes and cyclones can quickly flood coastal areas. The rise in sea level that occurs during these storms is called a storm surge. A storm surge is a type of coastal flood. They can be devastating. The storm surge that accompanied the 1970 Bhola cyclone flooded the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta in India and Bangladesh. More than 500,000 people were killed, and twice that number were left homeless.
The strong winds associated with hurricanes and cyclones can also whip up and move huge amounts of water, forcing a storm surge far inland. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina brought huge amounts of wind and rain to the Gulf Coast of the United States. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, was particularly hard-hit. The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina caused some of the city’s levees to break. Levees protect New Orleans from the Mississippi River. The river rushed in and flooded entire neighborhoods. Hundreds of people drowned, and the storm did more than $100 billion in damage.
Man-Made Causes of Floods
Floods can also have man-made sources. Many man-made floods are intentional and controlled.
Rice farmers, for instance, rely on flooded fields. Rice is a semi-aquatic crop—it grows in water. After rice seedlings are planted, farmers flood their fields, called rice paddies, in about 15 to 25 centimeters (6 to 10 inches) of water. Rice paddies must be carefully engineered to allow controlled flooding. Strong dikes or levees, as well as regulated channels for irrigation, are required.
Sometimes, engineers flood an area to restore an ecosystem. In 2008, the Grand Canyon was deliberately flooded. Water was released from dams on the Colorado River, which runs through the Grand Canyon. In 20 minutes, enough water was released from a dam at Lake Powell, Utah, to fill up the Empire State Building. Hydrologists, engineers, and environmentalists hoped that flooding the canyon would help redistribute sediment—which had been blocked up by dams—and create sandbars. Sandbars provide a wildlife habitat, often serving as a shallow bridge for animals such as beavers and bighorn sheep to cross from one side of the river to the other.
Dams control the natural flood plains of lakes and rivers. Hydrologists may intentionally flood areas to prevent damage to the dam or increase the water supply for agriculture, industry, or consumer use.
Engineers may also intentionally flood areas to prevent the possibility of worse flooding. When heavy rains caused the Souris River to flood in 2011, for example, the water level nearly reached the top of the Alameda Reservoir in Oxbow, Saskatchewan, Canada. Faced with the prospect of catastrophic flooding if the entire dam broke, engineers chose to release huge amounts of water. The reservoir remained intact, but the release contributed to massive floods in both Saskatchewan and the U.S. city of Minot, North Dakota.
Not all man-made floods are intentional, however. The natural banks of rivers and streams shrink as people develop land nearby. River banks are valuable real estate for housing, businesses, and industry. From Shanghai, China, to San Antonio, Texas, rivers are the sites of busy urban areas. In rural areas, factories use river currents to distribute runoff. To accommodate such development, river banks are paved with hard, non-porous materials. Soils and plants are replaced with concrete and asphalt, which can’t absorb water. An unusual amount of rain can cause these rivers to quickly overrun their concrete banks.
Australia is conducting an investigation of Brisbane’s development decisions after the Brisbane River overran its banks and flooded the country’s capital in 2011. Streets, downtown business districts, and bridges were destroyed. Water reached the third row of seats in the city’s rugby stadium. The flood waters were high enough (2 meters/6 feet) that bull sharks were spotted swimming up major streets.
Concrete banks also increase the amount of runoff flowing to nearby bodies of water. This increases the risk of coastal flooding. Venice, Italy, for instance, is frequently flooded as tides from the Adriatic Sea seep into the heavily developed islands on which the city rests.
Hydrologists, engineers, and city planners constantly work to reduce flood damage. Shrubs and plants create buffers to prevent runoff from seeping into flood plains, urban areas, or other bodies of water. The thick vegetation between a river and a flood plain is called a riparian zone.
Despite their efforts, people can also radically fail to control floods. The most famous flood in American history, the Johnstown Flood, was a man-made disaster. The tragedy killed 2,209 people and made headlines around the country.
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was on a flood plain at the meeting of the Stony Creek and Little Conemaugh rivers. As more people moved to the city, the banks of the rivers were paved and narrowed, causing yearly flooding. Residents were prepared for this. They watched the river and moved their belongings upstairs or onto rooftops as the city flooded.
However, residents were not prepared for the additional flood from an entire lake. Located in nearby mountains, Lake Conemaugh was a reservoir created by the South Fork Dam. The lake was an exclusive retreat for members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which owned the dam. Lake Conemaugh contained 20 million tons of water.
On May 31, 1889, the dam broke and the water rushed down the river at 64 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour). Johnstown’s leading industry was steel production, and the flood waters quickly became choked with industrial debris—steel cables, chemical solvents, glass, rail cars. The flood destroyed a wire factory, filling the water with tons of barbed wire. About 80 people died when floating wreckage caught fire.
Rebuilding Johnstown took years—the bodies of some victims were not found until 20 years later. Although the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club failed to maintain the dam, members of the club successfully argued that the disaster was an “act of God.”
Flood Classification
Disaster experts classify floods according to their likelihood of occurring in a given time period. The most common classifications are a 10-year flood, a 50-year flood, and a 100-year flood. A 100-year flood, for example, is an extremely large, destructive event that would be expected to happen only once every century.
But this is only an estimate. What “100-year flood” actually means is that there is a 1 percent chance that such a flood could happen in any given year. In recent decades, 100-year floods have occurred more frequently. This may be due to global warming, the current period of climate change.
The Red River, which flows along the border of North Dakota and Minnesota, chronically floods. Anything over 8.5 meters (28 feet) is considered “flood stage” in the area. In 1997, the river crested at almost 12 meters (40 feet), a record level. In 2009, the record was beaten as the river flooded again, reaching a height of almost 12.5 meters (40.8 feet). The river flooded for 61 days.
Flash floods can develop within hours of heavy rainfall. Flash floods can be extremely dangerous, instantly turning a babbling brook into a thundering wall of water that sweeps away everything in its path. Most deaths from flooding occur as a result of flash floods. Flash floods do not have a system for classifying their magnitude.
Deserts are vulnerable to flash floods. Wadis and arroyos are dry river beds that only flow during heavy rains. Wadis can be dangerous during flash floods because they rarely have riparian zones to slow the flood’s energy. The city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, developed on the site of several wadis, and floods are frequent after heavy rains. More than 100 people died in flash floods in Jeddah in 2009. The floods developed so quickly that many victims drowned in their cars as streets became submerged.
Predicting Floods
Today, hydrologists study past flood patterns to help predict where and when floods will happen in the future. The predictions are only estimates, however. Weather, land, and climate can all change.
An area’s soil and groundwater provide clues about flooding. Pedologists, or soil scientists, work with hydrologists to determine how much water a region’s earth can absorb. Agricultural soil, for instance, can absorb much more water than sand or bare rock. Groundwater is water already in the earth—in soil, underground reservoirs called aquifers, and even porous rocks. The type of soil and the amount of groundwater tells hydrologists how much more water the earth can absorb.
Determining the amount of runoff in an area can also provide clues about the possibility of flooding. Runoff happens when there is more water than soil can absorb. Excess water overflows and runs on top of the land. Runoff can come from natural processes, such as icemelt. It can also come from human activity, such as excess irrigation, sewage, and industrial waste. Controlling runoff can help control floods.
Hydrologists work with meteorologists to evaluate snowfall and snowpack. Melting snow contributes to runoff and increases groundwater levels. When snow melts quickly, the ground may not have time to absorb the water. Snowfall is one of the biggest contributors to flooding, and cannot always be predicted. Rapid snowmelt in the Andes Mountains, for example, creates mudslides and floods that disable railways and bridges. In 2010, snowmelt flooding trapped 4,000 tourists in towns near the remote historic site of Machu Picchu, Peru, for two days.
Modern technology helps researchers predict floods. Doppler radar, for example, shows scientists where a storm is most severe. Doppler uses motion to detect weather patterns and create computerized images of rainfall. Automated gauges placed in rivers measure the height and speed of river currents, and the amount of rain received. Geographic information system (GIS) maps made with this information help scientists warn people if a river will overrun its banks and flood areas nearby.
Preventing Floods
For thousands of years, people have tried to prevent and control floods. Yu the Great, for example, is a legendary figure in Chinese history. Around 2100 BCE, Yu developed a way to control the devastating floods of the Yellow River. Yu studied data from previous Yellow River floods, noting where the flow was the strongest and flood plains were most vulnerable. Instead of damming the river, Yu dredged it—he and a team of engineers made river channels deeper to accommodate more water. Yu also oversaw the construction of numerous irrigation canals, which diverted the flow of the river’s mainstem during times of flooding.
It’s not always possible to prevent floods, but it is often possible to minimize flood damage. Structures around rivers, lakes, and the sea can contain flood waters. Levees, runoff canals, and reservoirs can stop water from overflowing.
Levees are usually made of earth. They are built by piling soil, sand, or rocks near a river’s banks. Levees may also be made of blocks of wood, plastic, or metal. They may even be reinforced by concrete. Levees in New Orleans, for example, use compacted earth, wooden beams, iron rebar, steel pilings, and concrete to hold back the mighty Mississippi River.
Runoff canals are man-made channels. These structures are connected to rivers and direct excess water away from buildings and residences. One of the first canals in North America was constructed in about 200 BCE to control the seasonal flood waters of Lake Okeechobee, Florida. Today, southern Florida is criss-crossed by runoff canals that redirect the flow of the Everglades, the “River of Grass” that runs from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. These canals redirect flood water away from urban areas in southern Florida and toward irrigation canals primarily used for fields of sugar cane.
Natural and man-made reservoirs help prevent flooding. Natural reservoirs are basins where freshwater collects. Man-made reservoirs collect water behind a dam. They can hold more water in times of heavy rainfall. In April 2011, the government of Ethiopia announced plans for a large dam on the Blue Nile River. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which would be the largest dam in Africa, would create a reservoir capable of holding 67 billion cubic meters (2.4 trillion cubic feet) of water. The dam would prevent flooding downstream and provide the nation with hydroelectric energy.
Conserving wetlands also reduces the impact of floods. Wetlands provide a natural barrier, acting as a giant sponge for storm surges and flood plains. The swamps and bayous of southern Louisiana and Mississippi, for instance, protect inland areas from both coastal and riverine flooding. Wetlands absorb the storm surge from hurricanes that hit the area from the Gulf of Mexico. Wetland riparian zones that line the Mississippi River protect fertile flood plains as the river overflows its banks.
Many governments mandate that residents of flood-prone areas purchase flood insurance and build flood-resistant structures. Massive efforts to mitigate and redirect floods have resulted in some of the most ambitious engineering efforts ever seen. The Thames Barrier is one of the largest flood-control projects in the world. The Thames Barrier protects the urban area of London, England, from floods from storm surges that rush up the River Thames from the Atlantic Ocean. A series of 10 steel gates span the river near London’s Woolrich district. Each gate can hold back 9,000 tons of water, and disappears into the river when the water is calm.
Perhaps the most extensive and sophisticated flood-prevention program is the Zuiderzee Works in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is a low-lying nation that is plagued by coastal flooding from the North Sea. Beginning in the 1200s, the Dutch began to erect a series of massive dikes and levees on its coast. In the 1900s, Dutch engineers worked to isolate and dam an entire inlet of the North Sea, the Zuiderzee. The largest part of the Zuiderzee Works is the Afsluitdijk, a 32-kilometer (20-mile) dike that cuts off the Zuiderzee from the North Sea. In addition to protecting the Netherlands from flooding, the Zuiderzee Works has drained parts of the Zuiderzee for development.

Another word for flood is deluge (pronounced day-LOOJ or DEH-looj).
Photograph by Didarul Alam Chy, MyShot
Apres Moi, le Deluge
"After me, the flood" (in French, "apres moi, le deluge") is a phrase attributed to the French King Louis XV or his mistress, Madame de Pompadour.
The phrase is a casual way of expressing irresponsibility, something like "When I leave a project, I don't care if a catastrophe happens. It no longer concerns me."
Toxic Flood
There are many examples of toxic materials, from pig manure to coal slurry, flooding communities. One of the most unusual was the 2010 rupture of a chemical storage tank at an aluminum factory in Ajka, Hungary. The bright-red sludge was responsible for at least four deaths, as well as the relocation of hundreds of Hungarians. The toxic sludge, which included lead and arsenic, was eventually diluted by the Danube River.
London Beer Flood
In 1814, vats containing 1.47 million liters (388,333 gallons) of beer spilled in the St. Giles area of London, England. Several homes and businesses were destroyed, and seven people drowned.
Boston Molasses Flood
In 1919, an 8.7 million-liter (2.3 million-gallon) tank of molasses exploded in the North End area of Boston, Massachusetts. The wave of molasses crested as high as 3 meters (10 feet) and moved as quickly as 56 kilometers per hour (35 miles per hour). A train was lifted off its tracks, and 21 people died. Six months later, Boston Harbor remained brown with molasses.
Costliest U.S. Floods
As of July 2011, according to the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA):
Hurricane Katrina (2005)
$16.2 billion
Hurricane Ike (2008)
$2.6 billion
Hurricane Ivan (2004)
$1.2 billion
Tropical Storm Allison (1989)
$1.1 billion
Louisiana Flood (1995)
$585 million
Flood as a War Tactic
In 1937, the Chinese government destroyed the dike at Huayuankou, on the Yellow River, to stop the Japanese invasion. The invasion continued by a different route, but the environmental devastation of the flooding was immense. At least 800,000 people drowned, and more than a million were made homeless. More than a thousand square kilometers of farmland was underwater. Flooding changed the course of the Yellow River to such an extent that its mouth moved dozens of kilometers to the south. Ten years later, the dike at Huayuankou was rebuilt and the Yellow River resumed its previous course.
"The Hero of Haarlem"
A popular story concerns a young boy from the town of Haarlem, Netherlands, who notices a leak in the town's dike. The Spaarne River is flowing through a tiny hole in the barrier, threatening to flood the town. The young boy plugs the leak with his finger, and stays there all night. Adults find him the next morning and permanently repair the leak. Although first written about by an American (Mary Mapes Dodge, in her book Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates), the story is from the Netherlands.
The story has been changed and retold many times. In most versions, the dike is holding back the North Sea, not a river. In some versions of the story, the young boy freezes to death during his all-night stay at the dike.
Flood Myths
Stories about great, Earth-drowning floods are common throughout world cultures. Many stories are remarkably similar: A deity warns a virtuous man about a catastrophic flood. The man builds a large boat, saving himself, his family, animals, and plants from the flood, which destroys the rest of the Earth. Eventually, the man releases two birds to see if they bring back vegetation (which can only grow in soil). A bird returns, and human civilization is saved.
The most famous version of this flood myth is probably the story of Noah, recorded in the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran. Another version is the Mesopotamian legend of Utnapishtim, recorded in the Legend of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest works of literature, predating the Torah by more than a thousand years. The Maasai legend of Tumbainot, the Altai myth of Nama, and the Hawaiian myth of Nuu are all remarkably similar.
100-year flood
Noun
flood that has a one-percent chance of occurring any year.
absorb
Verb
to soak up.
accommodate
Verb
to provide or satisfy.
act of God
Noun
legal term for a catastrophic event that cannot be foreseen or controlled.
adapt
Verb
to adjust to new surroundings or a new situation.
Afsluitdijk
Noun
(32 kilometers/20 miles long, 7 meters/23 feet above sea level) dike in the Netherlands that partly dams the North Sea.
agribusiness
Noun
the strategy of applying profit-making practices to the operation of farms and ranches.
Noun
the art and science of cultivating land for growing crops (farming) or raising livestock (ranching).
ambitious
Adjective
eager to achieve wealth, power, status, or a specific goal.
archaeological site
Noun
place where evidence of the past is being studied by scientists.
arroyo
Noun
deep channel or canyon, often dry except during flash floods. Also called a wadi.
asphalt
Noun
chemical compound made of dark, solid rocks and minerals often used in paving roads.
bank
Noun
a slope of land adjoining a body of water, or a large elevated area of the sea floor.
barbed wire
Noun
twisted metal with sharpened points, often used for fences.
benefit
Verb
to be helpful or useful.
Bhola cyclone
Noun
(1970) storm that caused widespread damage and death in Bangladesh and India.
brook
Noun
small flow of water, larger than a rill but smaller than a river.
buffer
Noun
a cushion or shield.
bull shark
Noun
shark able to survive in freshwater habitats.
cable
Noun
strong set of cords or wire ropes.
canal
Noun
artificial waterway.
catastrophic
Adjective
very bad.
century
Noun
100 years.
cholera
Noun
infectious, sometimes fatal disease that harms the intestines.
chronic
Adjective
recurring or happening frequently.
city
Noun
large settlement with a high population density.
city planner
Noun
person who plans the physical design and zoning of an urban center.
climate
Noun
all weather conditions for a given location over a period of time.
coastal flooding
Noun
process where a storm or tsunami causes the sea to rush inland, as a storm surge. Also called estuarine flooding.
Colorado River
Noun
(2,335 kilometers/1,450 miles) river in the western U.S. and Mexico, draining into the Gulf of California.
concern
Verb
to worry or take an interest in.
concrete
Noun
hard building material made from mixing cement with rock and water.
consumer
Noun
person who uses a good or service.
contaminate
Verb
to poison or make hazardous.
crest
Noun
the top of a wave.
cyclone
Noun
weather system that rotates around a center of low pressure and includes thunderstorms and rain. Usually, hurricanes refer to cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean.
dam
Noun
structure built across a river or other waterway to control the flow of water.
debris
Noun
remains of something broken or destroyed; waste, or garbage.
deliberately
Adverb
on purpose.
Noun
area of land that receives no more than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of precipitation a year.
destructive
Adjective
harmful.
devastate
Verb
to destroy.
development
Noun
construction or preparation of land for housing, industry, or agriculture.
disable
Verb
to weaken or make useless.
disease
Noun
harmful condition of a body part or organ.
dispose
Verb
to throw away or get rid of.
distribute
Verb
to divide and spread out materials.
divert
Verb
to direct away from a familiar path.
domestic animal
Noun
animal that has been tamed for work or to be a pet.
domesticate
Verb
to tame or adapt for human use.
Doppler radar
Noun
weather tracking system that reads the direction and speed of moving objects, such as drops of precipitation.
downstream
Noun
in the direction of a flow, toward its end.
dredge
Verb
to remove sand, silt, or other material from the bottom of a body of water.
drench
Verb
to soak or cover with water.
drywall
adjective, noun
wide, flat board, usually made of plaster or wood pulp, that is often used to construct the interior walls of buildings.
dwindle
Verb
to shrink.
earth
Noun
soil or dirt.
earthquake
Noun
the sudden shaking of Earth's crust caused by the release of energy along fault lines or from volcanic activity.
economy
Noun
system of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
elaborate
Adjective
complex and detailed.
engineer
Noun
person who plans the building of things, such as structures (construction engineer) or substances (chemical engineer).
enormous
Adjective
very large.
environment
Noun
conditions that surround and influence an organism or community.
environmentalist
Noun
person who studies or works to protect the Earth's ecosystems.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Noun
U.S. government organization whose mission is to "protect human health and the environment."
erect
Verb
to build or raise.
erode
Verb
to wear away.
estimate
Verb
to guess based on knowledge of the situation or object.
estuarine flooding
Noun
process where a storm or tsunami causes the sea to rush inland, as a storm surge. Also called coastal flooding.
evacuate
Verb
to leave or remove from a dangerous place.
evaluate
Verb
to decide something's worth.
Everglades
Noun
vast swampy region flowing south of Lake Okeechobee in Florida.
excess
Noun
extra or surplus.
exclusive
Adjective
limited to a few characteristics.
extensive
Adjective
very large.
farmer
Noun
person who cultivates land and raises crops.
fertile
Adjective
able to produce crops or sustain agriculture.
Noun
region extending from the eastern Mediterranean coast through Southwest Asia to the Persian Gulf.
flash flood
Noun
sudden, short, and heavy flow of water.
flood stage
Noun
level at which a river, creek, or other body of water may cause damage to lives, property, or businesses.
foundation
Noun
structure on which a building is constructed.
frequent
Adjective
often.
freshwater
Noun
water that is not salty.
fuel
Noun
material that provides power or energy.
gauge
Noun
measuring device, usually mechanical.
Noun
any system for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on the Earth's surface.
government
Noun
system or order of a nation, state, or other political unit.
Noun
environment where an organism lives throughout the year or for shorter periods of time.
harvest
Noun
the gathering and collection of crops, including both plants and animals.
hazard
Noun
danger or risk.
hepatitis
Noun
disease of the liver.
herd
Noun
group of animals.
hurricane
Noun
tropical storm with wind speeds of at least 119 kilometers (74 miles) per hour. Hurricanes are the same thing as typhoons, but usually located in the Atlantic Ocean region.
Hurricane Katrina
Noun
2005 storm that was one of the deadliest in U.S. history.
Noun
energy generated by moving water converted to electricity. Also known as hydroelectricity.
hydrologist
Noun
person who studies the distribution, circulation, and properties of water.
hygiene
Noun
science and methods of keeping clean and healthy.
icemelt
Noun
flowing water created by melting ice.
industry
Noun
activity that produces goods and services.
infrastructure
Noun
structures and facilities necessary for the functioning of a society, such as roads.
inland
Adjective
area not near the ocean.
inlet
Noun
small indentation in a shoreline.
insurance
Noun
money paid in good health to guarantee financial or physical health if injury or damage occurs.
intact
Adjective
whole or complete.
international
Adjective
having to do with more than one country.
irrigation canal
Noun
channel dug between a source of water and crops. Also called an irrigation ditch.
isolate
Verb
to set one thing or organism apart from others.
Johnstown Flood
Noun
(1889, Johnstown, Pennsylvania) disaster caused by the failure of a dam, resulting in more than 2,200 deaths.
magnitude
Noun
intensity of an earthquake, represented by numbers on a scale.
mainstem
Noun
largest river or channel in a watershed or drainage basin.
malaria
Noun
infectious disease caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes.
massive
Adjective
very large or heavy.
meteorologist
Noun
person who studies patterns and changes in Earth's atmosphere.
migrate
Verb
to move from one place or activity to another.
minimize
Verb
to make smaller.
Mississippi River
Noun
(3,734 kilometers/2,320 miles) river in the central United States.
mold
Noun
type of fungi that forms on the surface of materials.
Noun
seasonal change in the direction of the prevailing winds of a region. Monsoon usually refers to the winds of the Indian Ocean and South Asia, which often bring heavy rains.
mosquito
Noun
insect capable of piercing the skin and sucking the blood of animals.
mudslide
Noun
rapid, downhill flow of soil and water. Also called a mudflow.
natural disaster
Noun
an event occurring naturally that has large-scale effects on the environment and people, such as a volcano, earthquake, or hurricane.
Noun
an area within a larger city or town where people live and interact with one another.
non-porous
Adjective
not permeable by a substance such as air or water.
nonprofit organization
Noun
business that uses surplus funds to pursue its goals, not to make money.
outbreak
Noun
sudden occurrence or rapid increase.
overwhelm
Verb
to completely overpower.
particularly
Adverb
specifically.
pedologist
Noun
person who studies soil.
pesticide
Noun
natural or manufactured substance used to kill organisms that threaten agriculture or are undesirable. Pesticides can be fungicides (which kill harmful fungi), insecticides (which kill harmful insects), herbicides (which kill harmful plants), or rodenticides (which kill harmful rodents.)
piling
Noun
structure, usually made of metal or wood, hammered vertically into the ground to serve as a foundation or wall.
plague
Verb
to consistently bother, torment, or annoy.
power plant
Noun
industrial facility for the generation of electric energy.
predict
Verb
to know the outcome of a situation in advance.
primarily
Adverb
first or most important.
prone
Adjective
vulnerable or tending to act in a certain way.
radically
Adverb
completely or extremely.
railway
Noun
stretch of railroad between two points.
rapid
Adjective
very fast.
real estate
Noun
property and the business of buying, selling, and developing land.
rebar
Noun
metal bar, usually steel or concrete, used to reinforce concrete structures.
recede
Verb
to retreat or withdraw.
redistribute
Verb
to give away an amount of something in a different way.
reduce
Verb
to lower or lessen.
refugee camp
Noun
temporary shelters built for immigrants who have fled their homes due to environmental or social conflict.
remote
Adjective
distant or far away.
retreat
Verb
to go back to a familiar or safe place.
rice paddy
Noun
rice field.
riparian zone
Noun
area surrounding a river, stream, or other body of flowing water.
riverine flood
Noun
process where a river or stream overflows its banks.
rock
Noun
natural substance composed of solid mineral matter.
rugby
Noun
team sport similar to soccer, but where players are allowed to carry the ball, block with the hands and arms, and tackle.
sand
Noun
small, loose grains of disintegrated rocks.
sandbar
Noun
underwater or low-lying mound of sand formed by tides, waves, or currents.
sedge
Noun
grass-like plant native to wetlands.
seedling
Noun
young tree or other plant.
seep
Verb
to slowly flow through a border.
semi-aquatic
Adjective
needing both a water and land environment to live and reproduce.
severe
Adjective
harsh.
sewage
Noun
liquid and solid waste material from homes and businesses.
sewer
Noun
passageway or holding tank for liquid waste.
shrub
Noun
type of plant, smaller than a tree but having woody branches.
snowfall
Noun
amount of snow at a specific place over a specific period of time.
soil
Noun
top layer of the Earth's surface where plants can grow.
solvent
Noun
substance that dissolves another substance.
sophisticated
Adjective
knowledgeable or complex.
steel
Noun
metal made of the elements iron and carbon.
storm
Noun
severe weather indicating a disturbed state of the atmosphere resulting from uplifted air.
Noun
abnormal rise in sea level accompanying a hurricane or other intense storm. Also called a storm tide.
submerge
Verb
to put underwater.
subside
Verb
to return to a lower level.
subway
Noun
underground railway; a popular form of public transportation in large urban areas.
sugar cane
Noun
tall grass that is harvested to extract sugar from its sap or juice.
technology
Noun
the science of using tools and complex machines to make human life easier or more profitable.
Thames Barrier
Noun
flood-control project that protects London, England, from flooding of the River Thames, made of 10 moveable steel gates.
tourist
Noun
person who travels for pleasure.
toxic
Adjective
poisonous.
trigger
Verb
to cause or begin a chain of events.
tsunami
Noun
ocean waves triggered by an earthquake, volcano, or other movement of the ocean floor.
typhoid
Noun
infectious, sometimes fatal disease that harms the intestines. Also called typhoid fever.
vegetation
Noun
all the plant life of a specific place.
vulnerable
Adjective
capable of being hurt.
wadi
Noun
deep channel or canyon, often dry except during flash floods. Also called an arroyo.
wading bird
Noun
bird with long, thin legs adapted for walking and feeding in shallow water.
waterway
Noun
body of water that serves as a route for transportation.
wave
Noun
vibrations (oscillations) around a fixed location, usually involving a transfer of energy from one point to another.
Noun
state of the atmosphere, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, humidity, precipitation, and cloudiness.
weather pattern
Noun
repeating or predictable changes in the Earth's atmosphere, such as winds, precipitation, and temperatures.
Yu the Great
Noun
(220-2100 BCE) Chinese leader, engineer, and hydrologist.
Zuiderzee Works
Noun
(Netherlands) series of dams and drainage systems designed to isolate and dam the Zuiderzee, an inlet of the North Sea.
Articles & Profiles
- National Weather Service: Flood Basics
- National Flood Insurance Program: Flood Facts
- EPA: Children’s Health in the Aftermath of Floods
Audio & Video
- National Geographic Channel: Earth: The Biography—Origins of the Ocean
- The Environment Agency: How the Thames Barrier Works
Images
Maps
Websites