FLOOD

A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is

normally dry.

ASHISH SHARMA
RESEARCH SCHOLAR (UGC-JRF)
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
PANJAB UNIVERSITY CHANDIGARH
What is flood ?
The European Union (EU) Floods Directive defines a flood as a covering by water of land not
normally covered by water. Floods usually cause large-scale loss of human life and wide spread
damage to properties. This damage is known as flood damage

Floods as Natural Disasters

A natural disaster is a major physical event occurring on the environment causing a severe
impact over the biotic and abiotic factors. Some of these events may happen suddenly or
over a period of time.

➢ The intensity and impact of a hazard may vary considerably from place to
place.
➢ The deaths, material loss and environmental damage will severely affect the
economy of a country whether it is developed or developing.
 FLOOD:
✓ A flood is a body of water overflowing the river channels.

✓ Floods are associated with some extreme natural events that happen over a drainage
basin.

✓ The drainage basin may comprise rural or urban populations. Flooding in rural sector is
mainly due to rivers.

✓ Floods in urban lands may be due to storm-water drainage. Runoff is that portion of
precipitation which reaches the streams.

✓ When runoff joins a stream, it becomes a steam flow. It is the total

outflow of a catchment or a watershed.

Floods are defined as relatively high flows which overtakes the natural channels
provided for the runoff. The level at which water flows along streams is called as the
river stage.
❑ During flood, the stage of a river is high. The river water during a flood usually overflows
its banks.
❑ Floodway is the channel of a water course and those portions of adjoining floodplain
which are reasonably required to carry and discharge the floodwaters.

▪ A river is a mechanical, ecological and geotechnical system .

❑ A river is characterized by :
a) a catchment area called as a basin
b) a network of streams and drainages
c) itschannel morphology- which is constituted by its length, depth and width
d) extend of banks and flood plains
e) Discharge of water represented by volume, duration and velocity of flow
f) Movement of suspended and bed-load sediments and pollutants.
❑ The rain water which is collected by the Catchment zone of a river basin is drained
through its network of streams.
❑ Cumulative flow of water derived from all tributaries of a river, beyond its channel
capacity, will cause the situation of flooding.
❑ Most of the time, river stage is below the channel banks. At the time of higher
discharge, water overflowing the banks cause the flood.

➢ At bankfull stage , water fills the channel upto the top of the banks and that is
the channel capacity beyond which the river starts flooding.

▪ Wider river channels are formed when there is enormous outflow of water
over a flat region.
➢ Over a period of time, the running water, as a geological agent, develops
canyons, gorges, water falls, meanders, flood plains and deltas.
▪ The successive river terraces of the Grand canyon of Colarado is a typical example of a
widened river course of the olden days.
❑A flood plain of a river is a clearly definable physical feature of its valley. It is the
flat area bordering a river.
Since it contains mainly alluvium, it is also called as alluvial plain.
➢ A Flood plain is built up of layers of sediments deposited by the river when it periodically
overflows its normal banks. Since they are flat, near-water and desirable places to live,
people have long been attracted by the floodplains for settlement.

▪ As they are very fertile lands, farmers love to cultivate crops along floodplains.
▪ The world's largest alluvial plain is the region of the valleys of the Brahmaputra,
Ganges (Ganga), and Indus rivers in India and Bangladesh.
▪ Large and thickly populated cities, industrial establishments and capitals are
located along river courses.

➢ Most of the work performed by streams takes place during floods.

➢ As the flood subsides, the river drops its sediment load and the channel aggrades back
to its previous level.

➢ The obstructions to flow in a stream channel cause local pockets of turbulence leading
to rapid downward Scour.
Causes of Floods
Flooding of rivers come due to both meteorological and physiographic factors

The notable physiographic factors

The major climatic factors are:
are: a) Type of soil
a) Form, intensity and duration of b) Landuse and land cover
Precipitation c) Area and Shape of the basin
b) Presence of a large catchment zone d) Slope of the catchment
c) Direction of a storm movement e) Natural and artificial drainage
d) Antecedent Precipitation Index f) Storage facilities of surface water
e) High Humidity and low temperature
f) Variation of atmospheric pressure Flood is mainly caused by the high intensity
short duration rainfall.
❑ Even low intensity rainfall for a longer period also may induce extended flows and
flooding.
❑ If the catchment zone is large, definitely the outflow will be more causing floods.
❑ A very unique factor causing floods is the direction of movement of the storm. If the storm
moves in the downstream direction, then the magnitude of river discharge is aggravated
by the storm.

➢ Antecedent Precipitation Index (API) is a measure of the soil moisture

condition existing before the occurrence of the storm.

➢ The runoff will be more, if the API is high and the soil is quite wet.

➢ Any variation in the atmospheric pressure is responsible for the movement of storms.

➢ High humidity and low temperature reduces the rate of evapotranspiration of the
environment.
 ✓ When the rate of rainfall is more than the rate of infiltration of the soil, overland flow and
runoff will be more.
✓ Infiltration is controlled by the texture and type of soil. Infiltration rates of sandy and
alluvial soils will be more than silt and clayey soils.
✓ An area covered by fine grained and compacted soils like the clayey loam will have more
surface runoff than infiltration

➢ Coarse grained and loose soils promote more infiltration than runoff.
➢ The landuse and Landcover of an area also control the runoff. Built environment and
barren land always encourage overland flow. Human changes of land by farming,
deforestation and urbanization all try to increase the runoff from rains.

❑ Improper landuse and channelisation of natural water ways and blockage of drains by
structures are some of the contributing factors.
❑ If the shape of the basin is oval and large, more water will be collected by the
catchment and will lead to floods in rivers.
❑ Lengthy and elongated basins may show flooding at the downstream ends.
 Analysis and Types of Floods

➢ Floods often cause the channel a stream to straighten and change its position within
the flood plain.

➢ Over a long period of time, changes in base level, annual discharge, or bed-load can
cause a stream to erode rapidly downward to a new level that put the old flood plain
out of reach of flooding.

➢ A new floodplain will form leaving the old floodplain standing

above as a terrace. It must be emphasized that flooding is a
normal part of the long range dynamics of a river and that the
floodplain is a feature that is constructed and maintained by
flooding.
➢ Flooding may be an annual event to some streams. The
recurrence of floods is directly related to the occurrence of heavy
rainfall
▪ A Flood risk is the chance of experiencing flood, expressed in terms of the return
period.

▪ Flood discharge is usually expressed in cu.m/s.

▪ Floods differ in their types based on their occurrence.

The major types of floods are:

a) Flash Floods
b) Single event floods
c) Multiple event floods
d) Seasonal floods
e) Coastal floods
f) Estuarine floods
g) Floods caused by Dam failures
h) Floods due to sudden melting of
snow and glacier.
❑ Flash floods are frequently associated with violent, convectional storms of short
duration. They are floods of great volume and short duration. These results from
cloudburst on relatively small and widely-dispersed streams.

➢ Heavy rainfall or slow moving thunderstorms may create flash floods.

✓ Single event flood is the most common type of flooding. It is caused

due to widespread heavy rains of longer duration of 2 to 3 days. These are associated
with cyclonic disturbances like storms and depressions.

➢ Multiple event floods are caused due to successive weather disturbances.

Floods in Indo-Gangetic plains are of this type.

➢ Seasonal floods are floods occurring during different seasons. Floods in some parts
come during summer monsoons and in some other parts during winter monsoon.

➢ The southern half of the Indian Peninsula experiences floods mostly during winter
seasons.
 ❑Coastal floods come due to the action of high tides and waves. Storm surges can
create extensive floods along a coast.
❑ Hurricanes and tropical storms can produce heavy rains or derive ocean water onto the
land. Beaches and coastal houses can be swept away by the water.
❑ Coastal flooding can also be produced by killer sea waves called tsunamis

▪ Failure of dams and check dams, embankments and earthen bunds in village tanks will
also create a flood.
▪ Sudden melting of snow and glaciers will induce severe flooding along the river courses
of a mountainous catchment.
▪ Floods are also classified as Urban floods and Rural floods. Flood is relatively a random
phenomena.
➢ It is therefore difficult to predict the exact maximum flood which can occur in future.
➢ The estimation of flood is also required for its relief works. It can be estimated only
with a specified probability.
➢ The following are the criteria of recognizing a flood and its characteristics:

a) Depth of water
b) Duration of rain
c) Velocity of flow
d) Rate of rise in river level and discharge
e). Frequency of occurrence
f) Seasonality.

❑ The estimation of maximum flood is another aspect of

its analysis. It involves
a) analysis of past flood records correlating with the basin yield
b) Empirical methods using appropriate equations
c) Preparation of unit hydrographs
d) Flood frequency charts
 Environmental Impacts of Floods

▪ Floods are natural behavior of streams. Most floods are harmful. They may destroy
homes and other property and even carry off the topsoil, leaving the land barren.
▪ When people are not prepared, sudden and violent floods may bring huge losses. Rivers,
lakes, or seas may flood the land.

❑River floods are more common, though lake and seacoast floods can be more serious.
❑ Large boulders in river beds are moved during floods, and human structures such as bridge
pilings and concrete barriers can be swept away by the rushing floodwaters.
❑ The water of flash floods move very fast. They have the power to move boulders, tear out
trees, destroy buildings and obliterate bridges. Huge amounts of debris are carried away
by these waters.

➢ The environmental impacts of flood are of many kinds.

➢ The effects of floods may be geomorphological, sedimentological,
➢ demographic, social and economical.
➢ A flood may change the configuration of a normal and natural stream. It
can create new creeks and rills.
▪ The erosive power of the floods may change the slope and remove the top soil which is
loose. It can also roll away the boulders from one place to the other. Sediment transport is
severe during floods.
▪ Floods destroy settlements and kill thousands of people depending upon their location.

Loss of human life and housing, Destroyal of commercial and industrial properties,
inflow of storm water into sanitary sewers, combined sewer overflows and promoting
disease vectors, spilling of sewers over the streetsand delays in public transportation
are the major effects.

✓ In addition to these there will be adverse effects on aesthetics, disturbance of wildlife

habitat, economic losses due to washing away of crop lands, pollution on water ways and
receiving water bodies.
✓ Floods can devastate the land by removing human population and their establishments.
 ▪ Damage to civil engineering structures, broken mains, stoppage of transport services
and wired communication systems are the impacts on urban lands. In many places,
impacts of floods are seen over human health.

▪ Breaking epidemics and spreading of water-borne diseases are the severe

environmental impacts to life.

❑ Flood waters are the carriers of disease vectors. The impact will be from upstream
end to the downstream end. The diseases that are to be feared of are various
diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, measles, tuberculosis and malnutrition.

❑ Sudden emergence of communicable diseases are also warranted

▪ During a major flood many deaths, caused by drowning, may occur. It happens to mainly
the weaker sections of the population, such as infants, elderly and the sick.
▪ Among the survivors, the most common medical problem is hypothermia, meaning loss of
body temperature due to long immersions in water and exposure to wind.

▪ Floods can cause severe food and food grain shortage.

▪ Water is a major solvent and carrier of organic, inorganic and toxic pollutants.
▪ Flood waters can increase the mobility of these elements over land and water
resources by reducing their residence time in a matrix.

➢ The sources of storm water pollution in urban environments are diffuse and highly
variable.
➢ Pollutants come from roads, parking slots, residential, commercial and industrial
activities within municipal boundaries.
➢ Fertility of soil will be severely affected by floods.
▪ Manures, fertilizers and soil humus will be leached away from their localities.
▪ Soil erosion will lead to huge siltation in tanks, lakes and ponds.
▪ Flood is one of the major causes of reservoir sedimentation. It controls and limits
the space available for holding water and increase outflow and induce flooding.

▪ Floods can destroy the cattle, crops, and homes of millions of items.
▪ Flooding has been recognised as one of the most recurring, widespread and disastrous
natural hazards in the densely populated regions of Asia.
▪ In many parts of the Indian Sub-continent, flooding reaches catastrophic proportions
during monsoons.

➢ A historically notable example was the Harappan (Indus) Civilization which

was eroded due to a series of large floods in Indus river.

➢ Catastropes of outstanding proportions have occurred in the past and there is no end
to the hazards created by floods.
➢ It is a continuous and destructive phenomena in the Ganga and Brahmaputra River
basins in India.
➢ Several lakh hectares of land was affected by the ravages of floods causing a sever
loss of economy.
➢ In India, the average annual damage is of the Order of 7500 millions of Indian rupees
and the annual human loss is accounted to be approximately 1400.

➢ Floods occur during southwest monsoon. It is observed from the records that
during the period from 1953 to 1987, about 50,000 people died in
India due to flood hazards.
➢ Global statistics show that over 5 million people were affected so by
internationally recognised floods every year. The rate also increases year after
year.
➢ The expenditure on flood relief also gets increased proportionately
Methods of controlling Floods.
❑ The study of causes and effects of floods, management and protection of flood
are carried out by experts of meteorology,
➢ hydrology,
➢ geomorphology and
➢ engineering.

➢ Several methods are adopted to control the floods and minimize the impacts of
flooding. They are mainly attempted
a. To Modify the flood by construction of reservoirs, river channels, natural detention
basins, inter-basin water transfer, construction of levees and flood walls, diversion
canals, bank stabilization, best agronomic practices, afforestation and catchment zone
management
b. Flood control measures are done to modify the susceptibility of flood damage through
flood plain management, structural changes, flood proofing, disaster preparedness, flood
forecasting and flood warning.

c. The methods are also adopted to reduce the loss though emergency evacuation,
flood fighting, public health, disaster relief, flood insurance and tax remission.
 ▪ It is possible to lessen the impact of a disaster. It is necessary to understand the
nature of hazard in order to reduce the harmful effects.
▪ In flood controls, the main aspect lies in the identification of risk areas or flood-prone
areas.

▪ Mapping of flood-prone zones of a river basin can be done through an integrated

hydrological and meteorological analysis.
▪ Flood Management is to be attempted with specific goals, objectives and
methodologies, depending upon the location, area and drainage systems of basins and
the frequency of floods.
▪ Assessment of past floods is of primary importance in controlling future floods.

➢ The first step in assessing flood hazard is estimating the probable future runoff rates and
associated characteristics( depths of water and velocities) on the basis of
➢ rainfall patterns,
➢ topography,
➢ hydrology of soils,
➢ landuse pattern and the morphology of the natural and artificial water courses.
 ➢ This will result in flood extend maps showing the boundaries of flood damage.
➢ These hazard zonation maps will certainly help the people to plan for controlling
and managing the flood events.
➢ It helps in redistributing waters, providing gravel beds, growing shelter belts,
➢ flood proofing, land treatment, tree management, fencing and construction of
flood walls.

➢ Flood controls can never eliminate floods. But it can minimize the loss and save all life. It
needs political and scientific attention in order to mitigate the effects of natural hazards
world-wide.
➢ International bodies like the UNESCO and the WMO emphasized the needs of computing
flood intensities right from 1967.
➢ The period of 1990s was declared as the International Decade of Natural Disaster
Reduction.
➢ In India about 40 Mha of land is flood-prone, which is about 12% of the total
geographical area.
➢ The National Flood commission was setup in the year 1976. For flood controls a large
number of measures such as construction of storage reservoirs, levees and flood
walls are adopted.

➢ Estimation of river discharge is done in almost all major rivers having potential threats.
➢ Creating public awareness about the floods and their impacts and methods of minimizing
their impacts are very much needed in flood disaster management.
➢ Computation of the recurring interval is also an attempt to arrange for flood preparedness.

➢ Flood warning systems are established to inform the people of flood plains well in advance.
➢ Floods are natural hazards. Their occurrence can be predicted based on scientific
computations.
➢ Flood controls are well within the hands of human activities

➢ It is our duty to plan the landscape and human settlements to mitigate the loss due to
floods.
Floods in 2005
The 2005 Maharashtra floods refers to the flooding of many parts of the Indian state of
Maharashtra including large areas of the metropolis Mumbai, A city located on the coast of
the Arabian Sea, on the western coast of India,In that at least 5,000 people died.
➢ The term 26 July, now is, in context always used for the day when
➢ the city of Mumbai came to a standstill.
Floods in 2006
There are 457 villages in 13 districts of north Bihar are currently flood-affected area
in Bihar. The crop area of 75,000 hectares in these agricultural-based regions has
been completely damaged.
▪ Muzzafarpur, Supaul, Darbhanga, Madhubani,Sitamarhi, Kishanganj, East
Champaran, West Chamaparan, Katihar, Bhagalpur,Samastipur , Madheura and
Saharsa are the worst affected districts.
▪ Because of flood some 1129 houses got completely damaged more than 3500
houses are damaged to some extent. Six people died in Bhagalpur, seven died in
Muzzafarpur and one in Sitamarhi.
Floods in 2007
➢ In 2007 south Asian floods occurred
between 3rd July to 15th august in 2007.
Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana,
Himachial Pradesh ,kerla, Maharashtra
,Meghalaya ,Orissa ,pujab,west Bengal.
These are effected areas in 2007 south
asian floods.

➢ By 7 August in India, an estimated 13.7

million people had fled their homes.
According to the Indian government,
the total cost of the monsoon this year,
of which these floods are a part, is in
excess of 130 crore (US$22 million)
since 1 June.
➢ The full extent of the damage and
number of lives lost may never be
known.
Floods in 2008
➢ The 2008 Indian floods were a series of floods in various states
of India during the 2008 monsoon season. The floods mostly
affected the western regions of Maharashtra state and Andhra
Pradesh as well as northern Bihar In India, the monsoon season
generally lasts from June to September.

➢ According to Ministry of Home Affairs (India)'s disaster management

unit, the countrywide death toll from floods in various states was
2,404 between June to September.
2018 Kerala floods is a big disasters,more than 36,000 people displaced across
the state and 445 people died, In addition to all the 5 gates of the Idukki Dam were
opened for the first time in history.

2017 Mumbai Flood

2017 Mumbai flood was the second worst regional flooding in Mumbai and can be compared
with the 2005 floods. Due to climate change Mumbai received 468 mm of rainfall in twelve
hours.

2017 Gujarat Flood

2017 Gujarat flood was occured due to heavy inflow to Dharoi Dam and Dantiwada Dam,
along with neighbouring state of Rajasthan.

2017 West Bengal Floods

Cyclone Komen was responsible for more rain in July and caused dangerous floods in West
Bengal along with neighbouring state of Jharkhand.
2017 Bihar Flood
2017 Bihar flood was result of water discharge into the Himalayan rivers of Gandak and
Kosi (Sorrow of Bihar). The state of Bihar is India’s most flood prone State and receives
heavy rainfall in monsoon season.

2017 Northeast India Floods

The 2017 Northeast India floods was due to the overflowing of Brahmaputra river and
affected 15 districts of Assam state.

2016 Brahmaputra Floods

Brahmaputra floods or 2016 Assam floods was affected 1.8 million people in India as well
as wildlife of Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

2015 Chennai Floods

2015 South Indian floods mostly affected the Coromandel Coast region and particularly
the city of Chennai. Chennai, Cuddalore and Chidambaram districts were among those
most severely affected districts.
2015 Gujarat Flood
2015 Gujarat flood in June and July was part of the Gujarat cyclone and Amreli district was
badly affected. Gir Forest National Park was severely affected and large number of cattle died
in three districts.

2015 Assam Floods

2015 Assam floods was again due to the heavy rainfall and overflowing of Brahmaputra river.
The flooding have caused numerous landslides and the region is possibly India’s most flood
prone region.

2014 Kashmir Floods

2014 Kashmir Floods was partially affected 1000 villages of Jammu and Kashmir state and few
city areas were submerged under water.
2013 North India floods
in Uttarakhand was a flash flood occurred due to heavy rainfall with floods and landslides,
India’s most recent natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

2012 Brahmaputra Floods

2012 Brahmaputra floods was again due to the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, affected
Kaziranga National Park.
Conclusion:
➢ Disasters are continuing natural hazards in the earth and hence, it is necessary to
study the causes and effects and understand their processes.

➢ This is needed not only to mitigate their effects but also to save the life and the
environment
References;
1. Kamaljit rai, prabha pandey, C. Pandey (2019).On the recent floods in india,current science 117(2).
2. Prakash tripathi(2015). Flood disaster in india: an analysis of trend and preparedness.
Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research, vol. 2, no. 4, august-september, 2015.
3. Dr. Satendra, dr. K. J. Anandha kumar, maj. Gen. Dr. V. K. Naik, KC, AVSM(2014). Ndia disaster
report 2013. National institute of disaster management, new delhi.