Flooding in South Africa

The tendency towards more intense precipitation events is projected to the future. The more precipitation, the more risk of flooding.More heavy downpours may increase the likelihood of property damage, travel delays and disruption in

A natural disaster is something that we cannot avoid, but we can mitigate the effects. Flooding is a natural disaster that we mostly experience in our community, and in case of a flooding in LAPS we should be able to act towards it. An important question we can ask to ourselves is, how can we help LAPS in case of a flooding? There is many different ways that we can help this organization, one is by

Flooding is one of the many risks that people and their private properties assume when they consider living in a specific geographic location. This is true for the residents of Howard County, as they live near the Chesapeake Bay, whose tributaries branch off into smaller rivers, streams and lakes. Due to the fact that Howard County is more developed in the southeast and more rural in the west, there is a correlation between the risk of flooding and the presence of human development. (any cite here?) Natural factors play an integral role in determining the probability of flooding in a particular section of the county as well. People and their private properties are highly impacted by flooding, as it can cause death and injuries to humans

In the science article, “What we can say about the Louisiana floods and climate change”, Chris Mooney explains that Louisiana is always at risk of floods, naturally, but climate change is exacerbating that risk. He explains how heavy rainfall is influenced by a moister atmosphere, which is a relatively direct consequence of human-induced warming to explain how climate change aided to the floods. He also stated that there’s no question if climate change is playing a role but what the role is. Finally he says the floods weren’t “caused” by climate change but it’s the type of event you would expect to see on a more warming planet. The purpose of this article is to help give some sort of explanation as to why the floods in Louisiana

Floods are common natural disasters that occur all over the world. Flooding has devastating impacts on the lives of people who are affected by the disaster. Floods can ruin crops, demolish homes, take innocent lives and cause many other types of hardships. These disasters can also leave people with a financial burden and emotional effects. Studies have shown that floods have led to various sickness and health complications. This common disaster has recently taken place in the state of Louisiana. Louisiana has been suffering from an enormous flood and has left people without homes, without food, and without personal belongings.

Floods are a bit different, because they can be planned for to some degree. It is possible to warn people that a flood is coming, and time to prepare (or evacuate) can mitigate the damage (Schneid & Collins, 2001). People can also choose not to live

I am from Charlotte, NC where we receive an average amount of rain, nothing too crazy. Coming to school in Norfolk I was first introduced to what flooding actually was. It was beautiful day prior, and suddenly it began pouring down raining. In about 10 minutes the streets were flooded. Staff had to take students to the other side of campus in their own cars. The underpasses were filled with so much water, that no cars could get through. Later on that was when I was informed that Norfolk is below sea level causing it to flood when it rains. Coming from a city where it doesn’t flood, to a city that floods was a shock. Through research I found of what Costal Resilience was, and how other cities are dealing with the same problems the Tidewater District is dealing with. If cities could be better prepared in times of hazardous events, less money would be lost and people wouldn’t relocate.

Climate change was blamed for risen in temperature by half a degree, producing more vapor which results in heavy rainfall in 2010 in Brisbane. The Burnett River and Fitzroy River were exceedingly bad hit on 28th and 29th December 2010, when the stream level rose to more than eighteen meters. Author was discussed that flooding proceeded into January 2011, turning out to be more terrible in Brisbane and damages came around 2.38 billion AUS dollars. Flood again hit the area in 2013 (Davies 2013).

However, could be caused by burst water pipes in a building or by extremely high rainfall. The former would not constitute a major disaster, but is distressing including causes a lot of trouble. Floods caused by heavy rain are usually known about in advance. Moreover, The Environment Agency issue warnings to enable us to make decision about what to do as well as support building managers decide if clearing is necessary. So, if the building is in known flood risk area, then flood plan should be in place in the same way that organisation have fire procedures, the staff will know what to do if flood happens. Furthermore, when you working in health and social care environment a flood plan should be taking into account all the times in case a flood was to happen.

A flood can be defined in many depths but is simply water where it isn’t wanted. In late 2010 Queensland was affected by major flash flooding this continued on into the beginning of 2011 and ¾ of Queensland was declared a disaster zone.

On July 19-20 2012, Duluth, MN experienced 10 inches of rain which led to one of the worst inland flood events in American history. The St. Louis River rose over 10 feet and caused significant damage to roads, bridges, and private property (Czuba et al. 2012). Erosion carried massive sediment loads into Lake Superior, posing a risk to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the process. The flash flood shook the community and negatively impacted the environment to such a degree that recovery is still a work in progress. The Solstice Flood, as it is known, forced the community to evaluate its outlook and preparations surrounding natural disasters. As global climate change continues, the frequency and magnitude of events like this are going to increase (IPCC, 2014). Unfortunately, the 2012 Solstice Flood in Duluth is symptomatic of how poorly we as a country, and perhaps as a species, have prepared for disasters that will only be magnified going forward.

Sustainability is based on designing for storms that have already happen. For example, a storm occurs and damage is done to a community. The community then decides to redesign a building that was ruined to withstand the storm that ruined it. This seems as though it could be logical, but it does not consider that the next storm will be greater than the last, as suggested by scientific trends about storm frequency and intensity (Blunden). Thus, it is noted that sustainability is almost solely dependent on historical accounts and records of the previous disasters putting the population, economy, and infrastructure at a deficit when it comes to preparedness for disasters. These issues are evident in FEMA flood mapping. Through the RiskMAP program, they “identify flood hazards, assess flood risks, and provide accurate data to guide stakeholders in taking effective mitigation actions that result in safer and more resilient communities,” (Flood Hazard Mapping…). The agency produces maps to “provide the basis for community floodplain management regulations and flood insurance requirements” based on various factors (Flood Hazard Mapping…). The

But seldom has it done so with more devastation than on the night of Jan. 31, 1953. “ The night of 31 January – 1 February of 1953 , the infamous flood, De Ramp (The Disaster), “crashed through protective dikes and submerged farmland, hamlets, towns, and cities. 1836 People died, and 72,000 others were forced to leave their homes. 500,000 acres of land were flooded. Field crops were destroyed on 13.7% of the total arable land of The Netherlands” “Hurricane force winds from the northwest drove an exceptionally high spring tide to launch an unprecedented assault on the man-made constructions protecting parts of the provinces of South Holland, Zeeland, and Brabant” With centuries of skillful development, the Dutch constructed impressive dames and dikes called the Delta Project in their continued quest of taming the water wolf. These skills have and will be crucial managing the inevitable climate

Due to diverse geo-climatic conditions prevalent in different parts of the globe, different types of natural disasters like floods, droughts, earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, and volcanoes etc may strike according to the vulnerability of the area.

While natural disasters such as floods, drought and hurricanes are commonly thought to occur due to environmental forces such as weather, climate and tectonic movements; a deeper investigation into the ‘disaster’ displays other contributing forces. Human factors have a large, if not equal, contribution to the occurrance and outcome of such disasters (Pelling, 2001). As Pelling (2001) argues, there is both a physical and human dimension to ‘natural disasters’. The extent to which the natural occurrence of a physical process, such as a flood or earthquake, impacts on society is constructed by that society, creating a ‘disaster’ as measured by a