See around you...: Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land.
‘Flowing water’, 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, exceeding the total capacity of it.
The word comes from the Old English 'flod', a word common to Teutonic languages.

- Principal types of flood

- Riverine floods;

- Estuarine floods;

- Coastal floods;

- Catastrophic floods;

- Muddy floods;

- Other (Floods can occur if water accumulates across an impermeable surface and cannot rapidly dissipate)

- Typical effects

Primary effects:

- Physical damage: Can range anywhere from bridges, cars, buildings, sewer systems, roadways, canals and any other type of structure.

- Casualties: People and livestock die from drowning. It can also lead to epidemics and diseases.

Secundary effects:

- Water supplies: Contamination of water. Drinkable water becomes scarce.

- Diseases: Unhygienic conditions.

- Crops and food supplies: Shortage of food crops can be caused by the loss of entire harvest.

- Trees: Some species can die from suffocation.

Tertiary - Long-term effects:

- Economic (decline in tourism, rebuilding costs, food shortage leading to price increase, and more).

- Some flood defences, planning, and management

- Levees;
- Bunds;
- Reservoirs;
- Sea walls;
- Beach nourishment.

- Flood clean-up safety

This kind of activities next floods usually signify hazards to the people involved in this kind of work. There are all kind of dangers in this work, so they have to use protections to avoid any kind of damages.

-Benefits of flooding

Floods, usually represents awful effects on human life. On the other hand, floods can also be good. Flooding can bring benefits like making soil more fertile and providing nutrients in which it is deficient. In the past, periodic floods were vital to the welfare of primordial communities like the Egyptians.