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32 - Floods

from SECTION B - ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

By
Mark E. Keim
Edited by
Kristi L. Koenig  and
Carl H. Schultz
Kristi L. Koenig
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
Carl H. Schultz
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
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Summary

Water, water everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.

– Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge

OVERVIEW

Definition and Classification

Floods are defined as “the overflow of areas that are not normally submerged with water or stream that has broken its normal confines or has accumulated due to lack of drainage.”

Engineers studying past floods use statistics to estimate the chance that floods of various sizes will occur. For example, a flood found to occur on the average of 10 times in 100 years would be called the 10% chance flood or the 10-year flood. A flood that only occurs on the average of once every 100 years would have a 1% chance of occurring in any particular year and would be called the 100-year flood or 1% chance flood.

Floods are classified according to cause (high rainfall, tidal extremes, or structural failure) and nature (e.g., regularity, speed of onset, velocity and depth of water, and spatial and temporal scale). This chapter will discuss impacts according to health outcomes. The influence of flood characteristics on health impacts is discussed where appropriate.

Causes of Floods

Floods may be caused by natural processes that are either fluvial (an abundance of rainfall or melting snow) or coastal (hurricane-related storm surge, coastal inundations, or seismically induced tsunami) in origin.

Keywords

disaster risk managementflood-related morbidityflood-related mortalitysustainable flood risk managementhealthcare facilitypublic health impacts
Type
Chapter
Information
Koenig and Schultz's Disaster Medicine
Comprehensive Principles and Practices
 , pp. 529 - 542
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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  • Floods
  • Edited by Kristi L. Koenig, University of California, Irvine, Carl H. Schultz, University of California, Irvine
  • Book: Koenig and Schultz's Disaster Medicine
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511902482.034
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  • Floods
  • Edited by Kristi L. Koenig, University of California, Irvine, Carl H. Schultz, University of California, Irvine
  • Book: Koenig and Schultz's Disaster Medicine
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511902482.034
Available formats
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  • Floods
  • Edited by Kristi L. Koenig, University of California, Irvine, Carl H. Schultz, University of California, Irvine
  • Book: Koenig and Schultz's Disaster Medicine
  • Online publication: 05 August 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511902482.034
Available formats
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