Why does rivers flood

To truly manage the risk of flooding we must consider solutions that integrate structural controls like flood bypasses, levee setbacks and floodplain reconnections with management plans that keep large investments and human lives out of the most vulnerable areas.

Furthermore, public education and outreach regarding risk is essential for safe communities. It is only through incorporating these many pieces that we can sustain truly secure communities and make legitimate efforts to restore and rehabilitate our riparian ecosystems. Flooded Street in Arizona For millennia, floods have intrigued the human mind. Flooding raises concerns where floodplains formed and used by rivers have been developed for human use. Crop farmers have known for millennia that the soils alongside rivers are valuable for farming.

Early settlements hugged rivers for proximity to water for everyday use and for carrying waste. Industries harnessed river flows to run machinery and transport resources. Communities large and small grew alongside rivers and built transportation infrastructure alongside. Flooding, essential to stream health and structure, can become, in these cases, destructive to homes, businesses, infrastructure, and lives. Few quick fixes exist to reduce flood risk for communities and infrastructure in floodplains used for overflowing waters during minor, moderate, and major floods.

Berms and levees require costly, continuous care and only push problems downstream. Long-term solutions include ensuring that undeveloped floodplains remain able to take on flood flows, reducing the quantity and force of water moving downstream. This way, you can communicate with your friends, family, and coworkers. Are you located in a flood plain? Knowing the answers to these questions can help you in the case of floods. One last flood tip we recommend is to sign up for flooding notifications.

Familiarize yourself with your local emergency management agency and how they communicate with your community. Do they have a mobile app you can download? Should you follow them on social media? Will an announcement about flooding air on the TV or local radio stations? Finally, for hyperlocal weather alerts that include NWS flooding notifications, current precipitation information, and rainfall totals in your neighborhood, you should look into getting a subscription to professional-grade weather tracking software.

The first level of flood watches and warnings is a flood advisory. A Flood Advisory means you should be mindful of possible flooding because a weather event is forecast to occur that could result in flooding. A Flood Watch means you should prepare for flooding because conditions are favorable for a specific hazardous weather event to occur. A Flood Warning means a hazardous weather event with flooding is imminent or already happening. Our AEM sister company, OneRain the Rainfall Company , specializes in helping clients understand and manage their water-related missions, including flood and road weather safety.

You may be wondering, what is a Flood Warning System? According to OneRain, a complete, integrated flood early warning monitoring system solution includes all the remote site hydro-meteorological sensing instrumentation, communications equipment, central base station equipment, as well as data collection, archiving, processing, and management software designed for flood warning. Contrail for Flood Warning is an effective OneRain software solution for flood warnings.

The software continually collects and monitors rainfall, water level and flow data in streams, rivers, lakes, and dams in real time. Contrail is an enterprise-level software solution that continually collects and monitors rainfall, water level and flow data in streams, rivers, lakes, and dams in real time. It is critical to remain safe during flood watches and warnings so as to avoid flood fatalities. A Flash Flood Warning means a flash flood is imminent or occurring.

If you are in a flood prone area move immediately to high ground. You should always pay attention to these notifications and understand what the different levels mean. For businesses, access to real-time flood watches and warnings through a hyperlocal weather map like Sferic Maps can help keep employees safe and protect outdoor equipment from being damaged during a flooding event. If a flood event is happening, there are steps you can take to stay safe. The first and most important thing to remember is to steer clear of flood waters.

This is true even if you are in a car. Flood waters can rise or gain intensity in the blink of an eye. Stay away from flood water at all costs. Another important tip that will help you survive a flood is to listen to evacuation orders from authorities. We also stress that you listen to evacuation orders the first time you hear them. Waiting even just a few minutes can be the difference between life and death. And staying behind can put you and others at risk if you need to be rescued from rising waters.

One last useful flood safety tip to pay attention to during a flood is to stay away from rooms where water covers electrical outlets. However, there are still plenty of flooding dangers that can threaten your health and property. There are also things you should in case a flood damages your property. One of the most important safety precautions after a flood is making sure your water is safe to drink.

Local authorities will let you know if water is safe to drink or if you should boil it before using. After a flood, standing water is also a danger. While it might look tame compared to a raging flood, standing water left behind is a breeding ground for bacteria and can carry toxins or chemicals. If you have to touch standing water for cleanup or any other reason, protect yourself with rubber gloves, boots, and other protective gear. One last flood safety tip to keep in mind for after waters recede is to wait for the all clear from local officials to return to buildings or areas compromised by the flood.

While your home or office might look safe to you, there could be major structural or electrical dangers. Always wait for the all clear. While flooding can happen anywhere in the world, there are certain places that are more prone to flooding. These locations often see the worst flooding events in history. However, there are some places that see flooding more often than others. FEMA compiled flooding data and produced a map of the U. In the Northeast, snowmelt and urban flooding are to blame for the high frequency of flooding events.

Tropical storms also contribute to flooding along the coast in the Northeast. In the desert Southwest, a lot of flooding events happen during monsoon season. In the middle of the country, the Mississippi River contributes to river flooding throughout its length. Some of the flooding in the Midwest also comes from snowmelt. In early , the Mississippi River flooded for over three months, which is longer than the famous flood of Along the Gulf Coast, flooding events are commonly caused by hurricanes and tropical systems.

Hurricane Harvey is an example of a hurricane that caused a lot of flooding along the Gulf, especially in Houston, Texas. Over the past few years, extreme flooding events have been common throughout the United States.

This flooding event is known as the storm that caused California to go bankrupt. For example, areas near rivers are often at risk for floods. Urban areas areas near cities are also at higher risk for floods because rooftops funnel rainfall to the ground below, and paved surfaces such as highways and parking lots prevent the ground from absorbing the rain. Flooding in the streets of downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Paved surfaces can't absorb rain, so urban areas are at risk for flooding. Rain or snowmelt running down a mountain can cause streams and rivers to rise quickly.

In fact, if a thunderstorm lingers over a mountain, a creek only 6 inches deep can swell to a foot-deep river in less than an hour. Flash floods are very dangerous floods that can happen with little or no warning. When there is more rain than the soil can absorb, the excess water quickly runs into rivers and creeks, overwhelming storm drains and ditches and causing a flash flood. Flash floods can cause water to rise significantly in a short amount of time.