Floods
What are Floods?A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land. It normally means that the water covers land that is not normally covered by water. Floods can happen when there is excessive precipitation, probably because of hurricanes and thunderstorms, causing a body of water to overflow. Flood are very common in Texas, and it endures more than 50 floods every year, making it the most flood prone state in the United States.
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Types of Floods
River Floods: Floods that are caused from the overflow of a body of water and occur over a long time (They are too long to be a flash flood). These floods can also happen when rainfall goes beyond the capacity of underground pipes.
Flash Floods: Floods that happen due to heavy rain in a short period and last for only a maximum of several hours. Flash floods can start within a few minutes or even hours of the rainfall. Sometimes they may start in other situations too, such as dam failure, or other times when excessive amounts of water is released suddenly, with a lot of force.
Coastal Floods: Floods that happen when seawater floods areas at low ground.
Flash Floods: Floods that happen due to heavy rain in a short period and last for only a maximum of several hours. Flash floods can start within a few minutes or even hours of the rainfall. Sometimes they may start in other situations too, such as dam failure, or other times when excessive amounts of water is released suddenly, with a lot of force.
Coastal Floods: Floods that happen when seawater floods areas at low ground.
Effects on the Environment
Though they are called catastrophic, floods are not a complete disaster, since they have both positive and negative effects. In fact, some of the negative effects are caused by humans, so floods would have even less negative effects if humans weren't in the picture.
Positive Effects of Floods
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Negative Effects of Floods
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