Flood relief

Floods are a natural disaster characterized by the overflow of water onto

land that is typically dry. They can occur due to heavy rainfall, rapid
snowmelt, storm surges from tropical cyclones, or tsunamis in coastal
areas. Coastal flooding, also known as estuarine flooding, happens when a
large storm or tsunami causes the sea to rush inland. Flooding is the most
frequent and costly of all hazards in many areas, often leading to
significant damage and disruption. Flooding can happen during heavy
rains, when ocean waves come on shore, or when snow melts. It is a
temporary condition of partial or complete inundation on normally dry
land, making it a critical aspect of severe weather and disaster
management. Human changes to the environment often increase the
intensity and frequency of flooding, for example land use changes such as
deforestation and removal of wetlands, changes in waterway course and
larger environmental issues such as climate change and sea level rise.
Flooding can lead to secondary consequences in addition to damage to
property, such as long-term displacement of residents and creating
increased spread of diseases transmitted by mosquitos and water-borne
diseases.

Causes of floods
Floods are caused by many factors or a combination of any of
these –

1) generally prolonged heavy rainfall

2) highly accelerated snowmelt
3) severe winds over water
4) unusual high tides
5) Tsunamis
6) failure of dams, levees, retention ponds, or other structures that
retained the water.

During times of rain, some of the water is retained in ponds or soil, some
is absorbed by grass and vegetation, some evaporates, and the rest
travels over the land as surface runoff. Floods occur when ponds, lakes,
riverbeds, soil, and vegetation cannot absorb all the water.

This has been exacerbated by human activities such as draining wetlands

that naturally store large amounts of water and building paved surfaces
that do not absorb any water. Water then runs off the land in quantities
that cannot be carried within stream channels or retained in natural
ponds, lakes, and human-made reservoirs. About 30 percent of all
precipitation becomes runoff and that amount might be increased by
water from melting snow.
River flooding is often caused by heavy rain, sometimes increased by
melting snow. A flood that rises rapidly, with little or no warning, is called
a Flash flood. Flash floods usually result from intense rainfall over a
relatively small area, or if the area was already saturated from previous
precipitation.

Periodic floods occur on many rivers, forming a surrounding region known

as the flood plain. Even when rainfall is relatively light, the shorelines of
lakes and bays can be flooded by severe winds—such as
during hurricanes—that blow water into the shore areas.

Effects of flooding :-
The adverse effects of flooding include:

 Loss of human life

 Property and infrastructure damage
 Road closures, erosion, and landslide risks
 Crop destruction and livestock loss
 Threats to salmon and other aquatic species
 Health risks due to water contamination
 Housing displacement
 Economic impacts

Flooding has many impacts. It damages property and endangers the lives
of humans and other species. Rapid water runoff causes soil erosion and
concomitant sediment deposition elsewhere (such as further downstream
or down a coast). The spawning grounds for fish and other wildlife habitats
can become polluted or completely destroyed. Some prolonged high
floods can delay traffic in areas which lack elevated roadways. Floods can
interfere with drainage and economical use of lands, such as interfering
with farming. Structural damage can occur in bridge abutments, bank
lines, sewer lines, and other structures within floodways. Waterway
navigation and hydroelectric power are often impaired. Financial losses
due to floods are typically millions of dollars each year, with the worst
floods in recent U.S. history having cost billions of dollars.

Protections against floods and associated

hazards
Flood control

In many countries around the world, waterways prone to floods are often
carefully managed. Defences such as detention basins, levees,
bunds, reservoirs, and weirs are used to prevent waterways from
overflowing their banks. When these defences fail, emergency measures
such as sandbags or portable inflatable tubes are often used to try to
stem flooding. Coastal flooding has been addressed in portions of Europe
and the Americas with coastal defences, such as sea walls, beach
nourishment, and barrier islands.

In the riparian zone near rivers and streams, erosion controls measures
can be taken to try to slow down or reverse the natural forces that cause
many waterways to meander over long periods of time. Flood controls,
such as dams, can be built and maintained over time to try to reduce the
occurrence and severity of floods as well. In the United States, the U.S
Army Corps of Engineers maintains a network of such flood control dams.

In areas prone to urban flooding, one solution is the repair and expansion
of human-made sewer systems and stormwater infrastructure. Another
strategy is to reduce impervious surfaces in streets, parking lots and
buildings through natural drainage channels, porous paving,
and wetlands. Areas identified as flood-prone can be converted into parks
and playgrounds that can tolerate occasional flooding. Ordinances can be
adopted to require developers to retain stormwater on site and require
buildings to be elevated, protected by floodwalls and levees, or designed to
withstand temporary inundation. Property owners can also invest in
solutions themselves, such as re-landscaping their property to take the
flow of water away from their building and installing rain barrels, sump pumps,
and check valves.

In some areas, the presence of certain species (such as beavers) can be

beneficial for flood control reasons. Beavers build and maintain beaver
dams which will reduce the height of flood waves moving down the river
(during periods of heavy rains), and will reduce or eliminate damage to
human structures, at the cost of minor flooding near the dams (often on
farmland). Besides this, they also boost wildlife populations and filter
pollutants (manure, fertilisers, slurry). UK environment minister Rebecca
Pow stated that in the future the beavers could be considered a "public
good" and landowners would be paid to have them on their land

Property owners may fit their homes to stop water entering by blocking
doors and air vents, waterproofing important areas and sandbagging the edges
of the building. Private precautionary measures are increasingly important
in flood risk management.[1]

Flood mitigation at the property level may also involve preventative

measures focused on the building site, including scour protection for
shoreline developments, improving rainwater in filtration through the use
of permeable paving materials and grading away from structures, and
inclusion of berms, wetlands or swales in the landscape.

When more homes, shops and infrastructure are threatened by the effects
of flooding, then the benefits of protection are worth the additional cost.
Temporary flood defences can be constructed in certain locations which
are prone to floods and provide protection from rising flood waters. Rivers
running through large urban developments are often controlled and
channelled. Water rising above a canal’s full capacity may cause flooding to
spread to other waterways and areas of the community, which causes
damage. Defences (both long-term and short-term) can be constructed to
minimize damage, which involves raising the edge of the water with levees,
embankments or walls. The high population and value of infrastructure at
risk often justifies the high cost of mitigation in larger urban areas.

Floods in India :
The flood comparison studies showed that the highest recorded floods in
India are remarkably comparable with the highest floods reported from
other parts of the world for drainage areas larger than 1000 km". Two
powerful floods recorded in India—the flood of 6 September 1970 on the
Narmada River and the flood of 11 August 1979 on the Machhu River were
found to be record-breaking events in the world.

Libya flooding of 2023

Catastrophic flooding that struck eastern Libya on September 10 and 11,
2023. More than 4,000 people were killed and some 10,000 were missing
after heavy rains generated by Storm Daniel (a strong Mediterranean cyclone)
drenched the area and brought flooding to the region. About 25 percent of
the Libyan port city of Derna was destroyed by a massive torrent of water
and mud after two dams located upstream from the city collapsed from
pressure brought on by the heavy rains. Roughly one week earlier, flash
flooding caused by Daniel had damaged infrastructure and inundated
villages in Greece, Bulgaria, and western Turkey.

Storm Daniel’s heavy rains

Rescue efforts began in both of the affected regions almost immediately
after Daniel’s passage. In Greece, civil authorities rescued some 1,700
people, with nearly 300 being taken to safety by Helicopter. While no
specific damage estimates were available following the storm, Greek
government officials estimated that Greece’s recovery from the storm
alone could cost billions of euros, whereas regional experts examining the
financial impact of the storm across the Mediterranean expected that
Daniel would become the costliest Mediterranean storm on record.

In eastern Libya, the flooding forced an estimated 40,000 people out of

their homes, with some 30,000 being displaced in Derna alone. While
many in damaged areas outside Derna were able to relocate to other
cities, Daniel wreaked havoc on Derna’s Road and bridge infrastructure—
which, when combined with the country’s poorly run governmental
bureaucracy—hampered the movement of refugees, rescue crews,
government services, and aid. The first emergency deliveries were much
delayed, arriving some 36 hours after the onset of the disaster. In the
days after, additional aid and staffing arrived by plane, with the International
Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and other
organizations assisting the Libyan government with relief and recovery;
however, the pace of their collective efforts was not keeping up with the
needs of residents. UN relief officials and others noted that the city was
facing shortages of medicine, food, and shelter and were concerned that
rising mud-contaminated water could sicken survivors in the coming
weeks and months.

The weather system that brought unusually heavy rains to eastern and
central Mediterranean was Storm Daniel, a strong mid latitude cyclone that
developed over the Ionian Sea and Greece in early September. Daniel’s
resemblance to a tropical storm in both shape and intensity prompted some
meteorologists to refer to Daniel as a “medicane” (a portmanteau
of Mediterranean hurricane). Daniel was held in place by a blocking high-
pressure system over the Netherlands, whose movement was restricted by
another low-pressure system to its west, which created a weather
phenomenon called an omega block (a configuration that resembles the
Greek letter omega, Ω, on weather maps).

Fuelled also by unusually warm sea-surface temperatures in the

Mediterranean Sea, Daniel strengthened rapidly, delivering torrential rains
and high winds to the southern Balkan peninsula and western Turkey
starting on September 4. Parts of central Greece received as many as
29.5 inches (750 mm) of rain—almost the same amount the area typically
receives in one year—in only 24 hours. Daniel also
generated waterspouts (small-diameter columns of rapidly swirling air in
contact with a water surface) in the Aegean and Tyrrhenian seas. The storm
then tracked southwest over the Ionian Sea before bending southeast
toward eastern Libya.

Daniel’s high winds and heavy rains peaked over eastern Libya during the
morning of September 10. Bolstered by warm waters measuring 27.5 °C
(81.5 °F) off the Libyan coast, Daniel generated tropical-storm-force winds
ranging from 43.4 to 49.6 miles (70 to 80 km) per hour, which
downed trees and electrical towers, and drenched coastal cities, producing
flash floods. Across much of the region, cities and towns measured
between 5.9 and 9.4 inches (150 and 240 mm) of rainfall; however, the
highest 24-hour rainfall total, 16.3 inches (414 mm), occurred in Zāwiyat
al-Bayḍāʾ, which is roughly 5 miles (8 km) from the coast in the Akhḍar
Mountains.

Damage
Daniel’s winds and rain produced extensive damage across the southern
Balkan Peninsula, western Turkey, and eastern Libya. The Libyan coastal
city of Derna and its population of more than 100,000 inhabitants,
however, were hardest hit by the effects of the storm. Whereas
rising waters claimed the lives of 4 people in Bulgaria, 7 people in Turkey,
17 people in Greece, and about 170 people in other cities in eastern Libya,
thousands were killed in Derna after the Abu Mansour and Derna (Belad)
dams, which had suffered from years of neglect, failed. The collapse of the
dams sent nearly 7.9 billion gallons (30 million cubic meters) of water
downstream along the Wadi Derna River, which bisects the city. A wave of
reddish mud measuring about 23 feet (7 meters) high struck in the middle
of the night—crushing houses, washing out the lower floors of high-rises,
and sending people, vehicles, and debris into the sea. By some estimates,
the deluge destroyed or heavily damaged at least one-quarter of the city,
leaving about 400 structures submerged in thick mud.

In the days after the disaster, the Libyan Red Crescent reported that 11,300
people had been killed and 10,100 people were missing in Derna alone.
On September 20, however, the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, citing World Health Organisation estimates, revised its
figures downward to 3,958 dead and 9,000 missing in Libya.

In Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria, floodwaters also immersed villages and

infrastructure. Damage was most pronounced in Greece’s Thessaly region,
where some 280 square miles (720 square km) were flooded, with news
reports noting that some villages were covered by 9.8 feet (3 meters) of
water. The floods also cut or damaged roads, buildings, train lines, and
other infrastructure within and near the cities of Larissa and Volos while also
spreading a thick layer of flood-driven silt across croplands, effectively
halting the year’s harvest of cotton, tobacco, and other crops and
threatening future yields.

Relief and recovery

More than a week after the disaster, Derna remained a city in disarray, as
relief groups continued to recover and bury bodies that had washed up on
the shores and had been covered by the mud. By September 18,
frustrated Derna residents had gathered to protest the slow government
response, and Libyan government officials and troops deployed to Derna
had begun to divide the city into sections, a measure put in place
ostensibly to slow the spread of potential disease outbreaks. By
September 19, Libyan government officials had reported that more than
3,300 bodies had been recovered and buried, many in mass graves.

The role of climatic change

A number of meteorologists and climate scientists noted that climate
change very likely played a significant role in increasing Daniel’s intensity.
A study by the World Weather Attribution group in the days that followed
examined factors affecting the storm and determined that such a rainfall
event occurring in eastern Libya would be expected to happen only once
every 300 to 600 years. It suggested that factors related to climate
change, such as the global average temperature being 1.2 °C (2.2 °F)
warmer than that of pre-industrial times (that is, before 1750), made the
Libyan rainfall event 50 percent more intense and 50 times more likely to
occur and the rainfall events in Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey 40 percent
more intense and 10 times more likely to occur.

China Floods 2023

From July 29 onwards, northeastern China grappled with unprecedented
rainfall and flooding across at least 16 cities and provinces, courtesy of
Typhoon Doksuri—the fifth typhoon to hit the Pacific in 2023. This deluge
ushered in a historic period for Beijing, witnessing its most substantial
rainfall in 140 years. Remarkably, the rainfall accumulated to surpass 60%
of a typical year's precipitation within a mere 83-hour window.

August brought further extremity as rains and successive typhoons

intensified the monsoon season, amplifying the nation's struggle against
mudslides, flooding, and flash floods. This barrage of natural disasters
placed immense strain on flood control zones and the nation's
infrastructure. Northern China's topography, higher in the west and lower
in the east, typically directs rainfall accumulation from the western side of
the North China Plain to drain eastward into the ocean. Amid this
tumultuous period, Typhoon Saola made landfall in southern China on
September 2, compelling the evacuation of over 880,000 individuals.
Earlier, on August 13, a tragic flash flood and landslide in Weiziping
village, Xi'an City, claimed the lives of 24 people, with three individuals
reported missing. While approximately 900 households faced the
consequences, the destruction was concentrated, sparing all but two
homes from damage. The severity persisted as forecasters issued
warnings to multiple provinces, anticipating torrential rain and flash floods
over the following 48 hours due to relentless downpours. Over the
preceding weekend, more than 3,000 individuals were evacuated from
Sangzi, Shimen, and Yongshun counties, along with Zhangjiajie City, as
heavy rains lashed these areas, exacerbating an already dire situation.

Conclusion:
The flood relief efforts, though challenging, showcased the resilience of
the affected communities and the effectiveness of coordinated responses
from various stakeholders. The lessons learned from this experience can
inform future disaster management strategies, emphasizing the
importance of early warning systems, community involvement, and long-
term planning for sustainable recovery. As the region moves forward, it is
crucial to implement the recommendations outlined in this report to build
a more resilient and disaster-prepared community.
End