Mississippi River Delta Floods

Summary: A flood is an overflow of water that goes over land that is usually dry. But what really is common is when rivers or streams overflow their banks. For example Coastal flooding happens when a large storm or tsunami causes the sea to come inland.

(Doug Donald)Floods can have really bad consequences and can have some good effects on the economy, environment and people. During floods especially flash floods, roads, bridges, farms, houses and automobiles are destroyed. For example, the flooding could have caused a big leakage in a nuclear plant and could have caused high radiation in that area where it happened in.

Now some good things from floods are that floods contribute to the health of ecologically important wetland areas. For

Also, floods distribute and deposit river sediments over big areas of land. These river sediments replenish nutrients in topsoil and make agricultural lands more fertile. The populations of many ancient civilizations concentrated along the floodplains of rivers such as the Nile, the Tigris and the Yellow because periodic flooding resulted in fertile, productive farmland. The construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt prevented the Nile from flooding major population centers downriver, but it also depleted once fertile agricultural lands along the banks of the river. Soil deposited by flood waters prevents erosion and helps maintain the elevation of land masses above sea level.

The rapidly receding land of the Mississippi River Delta is a direct result of man-made flood controls and levees that prevent topsoil-replenishing sediments from being deposited in the delta. Many population centers rely on ground water and underground aquifers for fresh water. Flood waters absorb into the ground and percolate down through the rock to recharge these underground aquifers, which supply natural springs, wells, rivers and lakes with fresh

Damage to infrastructure also causes long-term impacts, such as disruptions to supplies of clean water, wastewater treatment, electricity, transport, communication, education and health care. Loss of livelihoods, reduction in purchasing power and loss of land value in the floodplains can leave communities economically vulnerable.

Floods can also traumatize victims and their families for long periods of time. The loss of loved ones has deep impacts, and sad impacts especially on children. Displacement from one's home, loss of property and disruption to business and social affairs can cause continuing stress. For some people the psychological impacts can be long lasting.

Flooding in key agricultural production areas can lead to widespread damage to crops and fencing and loss of livestock. Crop losses through rain damage, waterlogged soils, and delays in harvesting are further intensified by transport problems due to flooded roads and damaged infrastructure. The flow-on effects of reduced agricultural production can often impact well outside the production area as food prices increase due to shortages in supply. On the other hand, flood events can result in long-term benefits to agricultural production by recharging water resource storages, especially in drier, inland areas, and by rejuvenating soil fertility by silt