Question

How is flooding of low lying areas caused?

Answer 1

Hint: A flash flood refers to rapid flooding of low-lying areas such as washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It generally occurs when it rains rapidly on saturated soil or dry soil which has poor absorption ability.

Complete Answer:
A flood refers to an overflow of water on the land. At times a river may receive extra water, from heavy rains or other natural disasters. When this takes place, the water overflows from its normal path in the river bed and onto the dry land. This is known as a flood.
Naturally water flows from the high areas towards low lying areas. This means low-lying areas may flood quickly before it begins to get to the higher ground.
Given below refers to some of the few causes of flooding in the low lying areas-
1.Rains
Whenever there are more rains taking place than the drainage system can take, they can result in floods.
2.River overflow
Rivers can also at times overflow their banks in order to cause a flood. This happens when there is more water upstream than usual, and when it flows downstream towards the adjacent low-lying areas there exists a burst and water gets into the land.
3.Strong winds in coastal areas
Seawater can be carried by massive winds as well as hurricanes onto the dry coastal lands and result in flooding. This is made worse if the winds carry rains with themselves. Sometimes water from the sea resulting from a tsunami can flow inland to cause damage.
4.Dam breaking-
Dams refer to the man-made structures which are mounted to hold water which is flowing down from a highland towards that of a lowland. The power present in the water is used to turn propellers for generating electricity. At times, a lot of water which is held up in the dam can cause it to break or cause overflow in the area. Excess water can be intentionally released from the dam for preventing it from breaking and that can also result in floods.
5.Ice and snow melts-
In the areas of cold regions, heavy snow over the winter generally stays unmelted for some time. Severa; mountains have an ice cap on them. At times the ice all of a sudden melts as the temperature rises, that results in massive movement of water into places which are generally dry. This is known as a snowmelt flood

Note:
At the time of a flood, people must move themselves as well as their most precious belongings to higher ground as quickly as possible. The process of leaving homes in search of a safe place is known as evacuation. Floods take place at irregular intervals and they do vary in size, duration along with the affected area.