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Urban flooding is the inundation of land or property in cities or other built environment, caused by rainfall or coastal storm surges overwhelming the capacity of drainage systems, such as storm sewers. Urban flooding can occur regardless of whether or not affected communities are located within designated floodplains or near any body of water. [1]
Another commonly encountered term is the Special Flood Hazard Area, which is any area subject to inundation by a 100-year flood. [25] A problem is that any alteration of the watershed upstream of the point in question can potentially affect the ability of the watershed to handle water, and thus potentially affects the levels of the periodic floods.
Fluvial terraces can be used to measure the rate at which either a stream or river is downcutting its valley. Using various dating methods, an age can be determined for the deposition of the terrace. Using the resulting date and the elevation above its current level, an approximate average rate of downcutting can be determined.
Flood control, flood protection, flood defence and flood alleviation are all terms that mean "the detention and/or diversion of water during flood events for the purpose of reducing discharge or downstream inundation". [8] Flood control is part of environmental engineering. It involves the management of water movement, such as redirecting flood ...
The word "flood" comes from the Old English flōd, a word common to Germanic languages (compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float; also compare with Latin fluctus, flumen), meaning "a flowing of water, tide, an overflowing of land by water, a deluge, Noah's Flood; mass of water, river, sea, wave".
A flash flood in Canandaigua, New York in 2017, greatly inundates a small ditch, flooding barns and ripping out newly installed drain pipes. The United States National Weather Service gives the advice "Turn Around, Don't Drown" for flash floods; that is, it recommends that people get out of the area of a flash flood, rather than trying to cross ...
Spate irrigation (from the English word spate, meaning: a. a flood or inundation. b. a river flooding its banks) uses seasonal floods of rivers, streams, ponds and lakes to fill water storage basins. It is an ancient method of irrigation in arid and semi-arid climates in the Middle East, North Africa, West Asia, East Africa and parts of Latin ...
A 100-year flood is a flood event that has on average a 1 in 100 chance (1% probability) of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. [1] A 100-year flood is also referred to as a 1% flood. [2] For coastal or lake flooding, a 100-year flood is generally expressed as a flood elevation or depth, and may include wave effects. For river systems ...