Floods Haya Abu Issa & Darine Shatila & Jazi Al Suwaidi 7C

Define/ Describe Floods A flood is a when the water level in an area rises where there was normally little before. Floods can be dramatic and quick or slow and creeping.

How does it occur? Floods are caused by extra water filling areas from a few main sources: Rain fall (from Monsoon weather, Cyclones and hurricanes) Rivers rising Ice melting Tides due to the moon Tsunamis Some areas may be easily affected to floods due to the ground being fully wet and unable to allow water to flow out faster than what is coming in. Some floods are artificial or man-made. Floods begin when soil and vegetation cannot absorb falling rain or melting snow, or when water runs off the land in a way that it cannot be carried in normal stream channels or held in natural ponds and human-made lakes.

Diagram of How floods occur

Where do they occur? They typically happen around rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. Big rivers have the most flooding. Coastal areas are flooded during events like earthquakes or hurricanes. With a hurricane, the wind pushes waves up to be larger and larger and they go past the normal shoreline. Once they are high enough, they usually take out a lot of property because many people live on the coastal areas.

Map of where floods Occur

How floods Impact (Social, Environmental, political, economic) The political effects are that you could loose land. The government also must have a rescue crew ready to save people. They must forecast and warn the area that there is a flood that is going to happen. Also they must have a plan for destroyed roads and cars. The economic effects are that people are going to loose houses and villages will get destroyed. Some families do not have enough money to buy new houses. Also banks might flood and people would have troubles with the bank. The social effects are that people might lose family because of death. Many people will have severe injuries. Also people would have less food and water supplies and that would make life a lot harder. The environmental effects are that underwater creatures die. Which means there is less supply of seafood for that area. They would also loose vegetation because the plants and trees would get destroyed.

How do we manage floods? There are many ways to manage floods. You can build flood defenses. The government should have a rescue team. Also they should have extra storage areas for extra water. They should use the planning system to develop areas that have a chance to flood.

How can people be prepared for them? Before a flood you should be prepared to survive it. You should have a battery powered radio station so you can know what is going on with the weather. Get valuables, electronics and food to a higher level so it doesn’t get destroyed. Go to the market or have food ready because it may be 3 to 4 days until you are rescued. Your food should be cooked caned food; because those foods will be able to last the flood and won’t get contaminated. Make sure that you have a first aid kit ready incase of emergency. You should have spare batteries and flash lights for emergencies. You should be at the highest-level ground. You should also have extra dry clothing with you to change into. A sleeping bag would be good to have in case you may have to sleep on a roof or somewhere that is not very comfortable. You should have a gallon of clean water.

Things you need

BIBLIOGRAPHY: /438/articleId/1/Flood-Safety-Awareness-Week-Prepare-Yourself-and- Your-Family-Against-Flooding.aspx /438/articleId/1/Flood-Safety-Awareness-Week-Prepare-Yourself-and- Your-Family-Against-Flooding.aspx floods1.jpg floods1.jpg