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... [continues]

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