Flooding

Flash Flood Vs Flood and Precautions

By Ed Brotak
Published on February 17, 2021
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Martin Bergsma - stock.adobe.com

For wise flood precautions, learn about a flash flood vs flood and flooding along rivers, coastlines, dam or levee failures, and mudslides.

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This past summer, while wildfires ravaged the drought-stricken West, states along the East Coast experienced devastating floods. In a one-week period during August, North Carolina, Tennessee, New Jersey, and New York all had major floods, each one separate from the other.

In a typical year in the United States, floods kill more people than lightning, tornadoes, or hurricanes. In 2020, 59 people died in floods, which was actually below the 10-year average of 94 deaths per year. In addition to fatalities, major floods, which now occur somewhere in the U.S. every year, also cause billions of dollars in damage. In Canada, floods are listed as the “most frequent natural hazard,” proving they’re nothing to take lightly.

Types of Freshwater Floods

Simply put, a flood is said to occur when a significant amount of water covers an area that’s usually dry. There are different types of floods, varying by location and cause. In this article, I’m going to focus on freshwater flooding, which can occur anywhere and is usually the result of excessive rainfall or melting snowpacks. Coastal flooding – which can occur along lakes as well as oceans – is area-specific and typically caused by strong onshore winds during major storms.

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