WORKSHEET 89 : Flooding Information

There are many types of floods. Some floods are caused when a river overflows or water spills over a river's banks. Other floods are from sea water.

A flood is when there is water on the land which has overflowed from rivers or seas. There are many ways a flood can happen:

1) When snow melts on mountains in the spring it runs down the mountains into streams. The streams become so full of water that the banks burst.

2) Another flood is caused by a tidal surge. Strong winds and a high tide cause lots of sea water to go up a river's estuary. The water is level is so high that the water spills onto surrounding land.

3) When there is a lot of rain in a short space of time, the water level in the river becomes so high that the water spills over its banks.

4) Earthquakes cause big waves called tsunamis. As the wave moves towards the coast, the sea water floods the land by the coast.

5) Hurricanes can cause floods. A hurricane is a strong wind which makes the waves higher. The waves when they hit the land can flood the land.

6) Failure of a dam by it cracking or water spilling over the top can cause a flood.

FLOOD DAMAGE

Floods can cause a lot of damage. People can get killed. One million people died in a flood in Bangladesh in 1985. Floods can kill wildlife and animals. Floods can damage peoples homes, furniture, wall paper, carpets and property. Floods can wash farmer's crops away and break roads, railway lines and cause trees to fall down. Flood water has a lot of power. The water gets on roads and can knock down electricity pylons. Sometimes people can get ill if the sewage in the drains gets into the flood waters and they drink this water.

FLOOD SOLUTIONS

There are many things people can do in a flood.

1) People can put sand bags round their houses (doors) so that the sand collects the water and stops the water from getting in the house through cracks in doors and windows.

2) People can use buckets or pumps to get the water out of their house. People can move ornaments and other valuables to the highest part of the house (usually the loft) so that these things don't get wet.

3) The government can build concrete banks or levees on the river banks. This makes the river banks higher and means that the river can hold more water in its channel.

4) A dam (wall across a river) can be used to stop floods as the flood water can be stored in the reservoir behind the dam. The water can then be allowed to flow through the holes in the dam. More holes can also be opened in the dam.

5)Extra parts can be built to a river. These are man-made river channels and are called floodways. They are joined to the main river and the flood water goes down these floodways and the main channel in a flood. The water has 2 places to flow so the banks don't burst.