Flood

A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is normally dry.[1] The European Union (EU) Floods Directive defines a flood as a covering by water of land not normally covered by water.[2] In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may occur as an overflow of water from water bodies, such as a river or lake, in which the water overtops or breaks levees, resulting in some of that water escaping its usual boundaries,[3] or it may occur due to an accumulation of rainwater on saturated ground in an areal flood. While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, these changes in size are unlikely to be considered significant unless they flood property or drown domestic animals.
Floods can also occur in rivers when the flow rate exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders in the waterway. Floods often cause damage to homes and businesses if they are in the natural flood plains of rivers. While riverine flood damage can be eliminated by moving away from rivers and other bodies of water, people have traditionally lived and worked by rivers because the land is usually flat and fertile and because rivers provide easy travel and access to commerce and industry.
Some floods develop slowly, while others such as flash floods, can develop in just a few minutes and without visible signs of rain. Additionally, floods can be local, impacting a neighbourhood or community, or very large, affecting entire river basins.
The word "flood" comes from the Old English flod, 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). Deluge myths are mythical stories of a great flood sent by a deity or deities to destroycivilization aloods can happen on flat or low-lying areas when the ground is saturated and water either cannot run off or cannot run off quickly enough to stop accumulating. This may be followed by a river flood as water moves away from the floodplain into local rivers and streams.
Floods can also occur if water falls on an impermeable surface, such as concrete, paving or frozen ground, and cannot rapidly dissipate into the ground.
Localised heavy rain from a series of storms moving over the same area can cause areal flash flooding when the rate of rainfall exceeds the drainage capacity of the area. When this occurs on tilled fields, it can result in a muddy flood where sediments are picked up by run off and carried as suspended matter or bed load. s an act of divine retribution, and they are featured in the mythology of many cultures.