Dangers and Destructions of Floods and Hurricanes
Floods and hurricanes have been effecting the lives of people around the world for years. This research paper is going to state some of the worst floods and hurricanes, and how future ones can be controlled.
A flood is an overflow of water on dry land. The two types of floods are coastal and river floods. Coastal floods are the first topic in this research paper.
A coastal flood is the flooding of beaches and surrounding areas; including bar spits and deltas. They can be effected by tidal waves and coastal currents. Coastal floods can cover a large amount of distance along a shore. The length of time a coastal flood is dangerous is usually very short. It depends on how high the tide is which goes up and down twice a day. When the velocities of hurricane winds become severe the height of the waves become three or more feet higher than the previous high tide. Coastal floods can be caused by a number of things. Coastal floods can be caused by runoff, hurricane waves, tsunami
(seismic sea waves), and hurricane rains. Coastal flooding can not only take part on oceans but it can also take part on lakes. Coastal flooding can be a great danger because coast lines are very densely populated areas. In the United
States in the early 1990's 50% of the population was on a coastal county.1
Although they shrink before reaching shore, wind generated waves have been spotted to be as high as 30 m (100 ft) in the middle of the ocean.2 In 1970 a major storm in the Bay of Bengal produced heavy seas that flooded regions of
East Pakistan, killing about 200,000 people.3
River flooding can happen a number of ways. The causes are rain, snowmelt, and ice jams. Soil can not absorb as much water with continuos moistening. The longer that precipitation lasts the more water flows into streams as runoff. Cloudburst floods only last for a couple hours, but they need a large amount of rainfall. This usually only happens in mountainous areas. They are called flash floods. Floods occurring from snowmelt and ice jams do not have to be preceded by heavy rains. Moderate amounts of rain can make things even worse because the ground does not absorb it. Floods can result in the failure dams, aqueducts, weirs, landfills, paving, construction, and storm sewers. They are artificial causes.
In 1993 when rainfall lasted from April until July in Iowa, Illinois,
Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, it covered about 16 billion acres.4 Many deaths and $10 billion in damage was the result
A flood is a large amount of water that covers an area that is normally dry. Floods can occur almost anywhere, but they happen more often on floodplains and on places close to the ocean. The land that floods regularly is called a floodplain. It is called coastal flooding when a large storm or wave from the ocean causes flooding in the cities inland. Some floods take days to develop, while others take minutes to form these are called flash floods.
[4.1] On average, how many high and low tides will a given spot on the coast experience in a day, and why?
A major flood on any river is both a long-term and a short-term event, particularly any river basin where human influence has exerted "control" over the ri...
of tides. High - water heights vary from 22 to 28 feet and low - water heights
a) physical and chemical changes related to tides, waves, currents, sea level and ice cap variations, upwelling, and salinity variations;
Authorities at LSU's Hurricane Center and Water Resources Research Institute, and US Army Corps of Engineers lead a discussion of how Louisiana's coastal region is doomed to storm surges. A case in point is the deterioration of the Mississippi Delta, a triangular-shaped deposition of sediment, which works to mitigate flooding and damage caused by storm surges. In fact, every four miles of the delta could knock down a storm surge by one foot. Unfortunately, some areas of the delta like Port Fouchon are losing 40 to 50 feet of land per year. By 2090, experts at LSU have postulated that the delta will be gone - vulnerably leaving New Orleans on the sea. Aside from the delta, barrier islands and marshes are the only other two natural entities which could mitigate a storm surge. The barrier islands' black mangrove trees and the marshes' tall grasses interfere with incoming gulf currents. However, just like the Mississippi Delta, these natural entities are also eroding (Fischetti, 2001).
Hurricane Katrina was the most expensive hurricane that hit the United States ever. The hurricane was the third strongest of the season, behind both Hurricane Wilma and Rita. The hurricane was the third strongest of the season, behind both Hurricane Wilma and Rita.
Imagine that a family is sitting at home watching a calm game of baseball, when suddenly they realize that a massive wall of water is approaching the neighborhood. Where did this flash flood come from, a reader might ask? The wall of water was made by the raging winds and immense power of Hurricane Andrew. Hurricane Andrew was the second most expensive storm in history that destroyed over 250,000 homes in the states of Florida and Louisiana alone. Hurricane Andrew was not predicted to make landfall, so when it did many civilians did not have any ideas that the Hurricane was coming until it was almost too late. Hurricane Andrew also caused many short and long term effects in the ecosystem and local economies.
...tioned. What caused the tidal wave is still a mystery, although many people believe it was caused by volcanic eruption, or a large meteorite crashing into the Earth’s surface.
New Orleans flooding risks originated from its location characteristics in proximity of Mississippi River. Since its foundation up to 1927, New Orleans water and flooding threats originated from Mississippi River but human activities had contained this by 1930s. Regrettably, this led to additional water problems. Accordingly, the critical changes to the New Orleans environment originating from the human development worsened the water problems in area caused by the floods. In particular, the growth in ...
Cline noticed a continually rising tide in spite of a 15 mph wind from out of the north as well as decreasing pressure. At 12 o'clock midnight Saturday September 8, 1900 it began to rain in Galveston. By nine in the morning water was running calf deep a few blocks from the beach. The rising tide, driving wind, rain and storm surge broke apart the bathhouses on the beach. Citizens of Galveston began to comprehend the importance of the situation and started movin...
McCallum, B. E., Wicklein, S. M., Reiser, R. G., Busciolano, R., Morrison, J. L., Verdi, R. J., Painter, J. A., & Frantz, E. R. (2012). Monitoring storm tide and flooding from hurricane sandy along the atlantic coast of the united states. Geological Survey Open-File Report, (2013–1043), 42.
Tides are common features of the ocean. Tides occur when large bodies water rise and fall, because of the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun. Spring tides are especially strong tides; in spite of the name they have nothing to do with the season spring. They occur when the Earth, the sun, and the moon are in a line. Spring tides occur during the full moon and the new moon. Neap tides are especially weak tides. They occur when the gravitational forces of the moon and the sun are perpendicular to one another. When water moves from side to side, it is called a current. Currents move warm and cold water to different parts of the ocean.
Hurricanes occur all over the world, at different times, but commonly through June first and late November. However in late August 2005 a catastrophic hurricane struck. This was Hurricane Katrina. With winds traveling over one hundred miles per hour making it a category five on the Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Scale it was said to have cause billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Hurricane Katrina flooded nearly forty thousand homes, and killed at least two thousand people (“Hurricane”). An average category five hurricane has enough energy to power street lamps for more than twenty seven thousand hours (Williams 58). Knowing about Hurricane Katrina, and the devastation of the city in New Orleans would be beneficial. Also, general information on hurricanes can help civilians and people of higher authority better understand and prepare for damage that could once hit their town and community. Because experts know the general information on these storms they can help explain to the public why and how Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes occur. Hopefully, in the future civilians will know and use this information to their advantage against hurricanes.
Flooding has always been part of the natural environment of Thailand. Since historical times populations that live within the urban and rural floodplains have learned of ways to adapt and survive (Balancing 2). With the economic development of many areas within the floodplain regions over the later part of the last century many areas have become further susceptible to seasonal rains and flooding.