Expand: date=May 2008

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land, a deluge.MSN Encarta Dictionary. Flood. Retrieved on 2006-12-28. In the sense of "flowing water", the word 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 its bounds, with the result that some of the water flows or sits outside of the normal perimeter of the body. It can also occur in rivers, when the strength of the river is so high it flows right out of the river channel, particularly at corners or meanders.

The word comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages (compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float).

The term "The Flood," capitalized, usually refers to the great Universal Deluge described in Genesis and is treated at Deluge.

Riverine floods

• Slow kinds: Runoff from sustained rainfall or rapid snowmelt exceeding the capacity of a river's channel. Causes include heavy rains from monsoons, hurricanes and tropical depressions, foen winds and warm rain affecting snowpack.
• Fast kinds: flash flood as a result of e.g. an intense thunderstorm.

Estuarine floods

• Commonly caused by a combination of sea tidal surges caused by storm-force winds.

Coastal floods

• Caused by severe sea storms, or as a result of another hazard (e.g. tsunami or hurricane).

Catastrophic floods

• Caused by a significant and unexpected event e.g. dam breakage, or as a result of another hazard (e.g. earthquake or volcanic eruption).

For example: Tropical Storm Alberto, the famous 1994 storm, produced heavy flooding across Georgia, Alabama and northwest Florida and created between 400-600 million dollars worth of damage in the Southeastern US in 1994 United States Dollars

Other

• Flooding can occur if water accumulates across an impermeable surface (e.g. from rainfall) and cannot rapidly dissipate (i.e. gentle orientation or low evaporation).
• A series of storms moving over the same area.
• Dam-building beavers can flood low-lying urban and rural areas, often causing significant damage.

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 due to drowning. It can also lead to epidemics and diseases.