Effects of Floods - Term Paper Example

Table of Contents Introduction 2 The contributory factors causing floods 2 The immediate impact and significant risks caused by the flooding 5 The agencies involved and their response 6 Environmental management systems and recommendations 7 Conclusion 8 References 10 Introduction Flood is one of those natural calamities that have been historically affecting the mankind throughout the world. Floods can occur both slowly and quickly. When they occur slowly, large areas are affected. When floods occur quickly, they are called flash floods. Flash floods are dangerous in nature as they can occur within just six-seven hours of rainfall (Allen, 2001). In case of flash floods water moves fast and with great power. They are capable of sweeping away the cars, bridges and buildings. Most of the deaths take place due to the occurrence of flash floods. Effects of floods may be limited to either a small area or a wide area. United Kingdom is one of those countries that are greatly affected by flood over the last 3-4 years. In 2007 the country saw one of the most devastating floods in its history. This report includes the major causes of floods. Furthermore the significant risks and immediate impacts that are caused by the floods are also included in this report. Moreover the report identifies various agencies and their role in the massive flood that took place in 2007 in Sheffield. An effective environmental management system should be in place to deal with situations like flood. In this report the effectiveness of such a system is evaluated. Lastly the report contains a conclusion that includes the summery and major findings of the research. The contributory factors causing floods There are several contributory factors that cause flood. A particular incident of flood can be seen as a result of either one contributing factor or multiple contributing factors. Floods can be divided in two separate categories namely river flood and coastal flood. There are three different hazards that cause these two types of floods. These are atmospheric hazard, technologic hazard and tectonic hazard. Each of these hazards are actually result of several other contributing factors like rainfall, ice jam, snow melt, landslides, dam failures, tsunamis and storm surges. These factors can be considered as the major contributory factors that lead to floods. A clear picture can be obtained from the following figure. [Source: Richards, 2001. Environmental Hazards] Atmospheric hazards like rainfall, landsides and ice jam are the main causes of river floods. Among them rainfall is perhaps the most important as well as most common cause. Excessive rainfalls that vary from random convectional storms to semi-predictable seasonal rains can cause flash floods as well as annual floods in the tropical regions. The areal coverage and duration of the rainfall is dependent on the precipitation. In the words of Keith Richards “the more intense the precipitation is beyond a flood-producing threshold, the lesser is its duration and areal coverage.” (Richards, 2001). As a result, the unit-depth increases with the narrowing of drainage basin. Melting snow is another important contributing factor. It mainly causes widespread flooding. The continental interiors of Asia as well as North America are mainly affected by such flood. Early summer and late spring are the two main seasons when such floods are seen (Richards, 2001). Floods can also take place due to ice jam which is nothing but accretion of large pieces of floating ice. Such floating ice results from spring break-up and causes impermanent damming of river. Large ice masses are capable of destroying buildings (Richards, 2001). Floods can also occur due to changes in the use of lands. It is found that urbanization has been a major cause of flood. There are at least four ways in which urbanization causes flood. First of all the creation of extremely impermeable surfaces like roads and roofs inhibits infiltration, as a result a powerful storm along with heavy rainfall appears. According to Hollis urbanization can make a small flood ten times bigger. Furthermore it is often found that the natural flow of a river is restricted by building, riverside facilities and bridge supports. Such incidents also increase the frequency of occurrence of flood. Keith Richards believes that “insufficient storm water drainage following building development is a major cause of urban flooding” (Richards, 2001). Deforestation is another major cause of flood. The main reason behind this is the fact that trees play crucial role in preventing sediment runoff. Furthermore forests hold as well as use more water as compared to farms or grasslands (The Why Files, n.d.). Dam failure is the most important technologic hazard that causes floods. Dams are constructed either by the human beings or by nature. Natural dams are developed by volcanic events, blockage of ice and landslides. They are also constructed by human beings for storing water, controlling flood and generating electric. All types of dam can fail if water is suddenly released into downstream drainage (Nelson, 2009). As far as coastal flood is concerned it mainly happens because of storm surges and tsunamis. Storm surges mainly depend on atmospheric processes like very strong aground winds. On the other hand tsunamis are also responsible for coastal flood, but they hardly come. According to Richards, “tsunamis are created by earthquakes on the sea floor” (Richards, 2001). The immediate impact and significant risks caused by the flooding Floods have enormous impact on the society and environment. Floods destroy the drainage systems in the cities. Severe floods are even capable of damaging or destroying buildings. Such incidents have significant impacts on the environment because there are many toxic materials like paint, gasoline and pesticide that are likely to be contaminated into the water of lakes, bays, rivers and ocean. Such contamination is extremely harmful for maritime life. Flood may also results in lose of millions of dollars as it affect business and all types of economic activities. It can make millions of people homeless and foodless. Floods cause momentous amount of erosion to the coastal areas. If such erosions are not repaired, they can result in frequent flooding in future (Thinkquest, n.d.). When flood occurs, main damages are done by the force of the flow of water and this is mostly found in case of flash flood. Such force is capable of knocking people, car and building down. Floods result in spreading of disease. According to Roxanna McDonald “flood water seeps in everywhere causing sewers to overflow into the drinking water system, washing away chemicals and all sorts of waste products” (McDonald, 2003). The agencies involved and their response There were several agencies that were directly involved and played important roles in minimizing the damages which were caused by the massive flood that took place in 2007 in Sheffield. One of these agencies was Environment Agency. Environment Agency played important role by warning the people and predicting about the place where the flood might take place. Throughout the floods the agency used various ways in the process of warning people regarding the risk of river flood. However, all the activities were heavily dependent on information and systems which were available in the flood affected areas. The agency provided regular updates through television, radio and internet. All the updated warnings were posted on the agency’s website. A special program named Floodline Warnings Direct was created. Sending warnings all through the day via telephone, email, text message, and fax were the main activities of this program. The agency used loud hailers for warning people. In addition to these, the agency was also involved in forecasting regarding the rainfall. It used advanced technology for monitoring rainfall, sea conditions, and river levels throughout day. According to the information provided by the agency, it warned almost 100 properties that were using the Floodline Warnings Direct system (Environment Agency, n.d.). Another agency that played important part in the response effort during the flood was the Health Protection Agency. The staffs of this agency took part in the response activities in various regions of UK especially in Yorkshire and East and West Midlands. They worked in various HPA centres and gave advice regarding possible risks that are associated with flooding. Such advices addressed the aspects like chemical and infectious hazards that were likely to arise due to flood. Furthermore the advices also addressed regarding the possible implications for the people who were going back to their residence after flooding. In Yorkshire staffs of Health Protection Agency worked with Gold and Silver multi-agency command and provided specialist health advice. Furthermore they distributed information leaflets for press and public statements. They were also involved in helping the emergency service staffs and frontline NHS staffs. According to information provided by Health Protection Agency on its website, a Scientific and Technical Advice Cell was established in South Yorkshire. It involved the HPU, Environment Agency, PCT and Yorkshire Water for assessing the risk that might arise due to contamination of harmful elements into the drinking water (Health Protection Agency, 2007). Environmental management systems and recommendations An effective environmental management system must be in place in order to deal with natural disasters like flood. In the present global scenario it is very much possible to develop such a system by using advanced information and communication technology. An environmental management system will be called an effective system when it will successfully forecast and help the response team by providing all the information that is required to deal with the situation. In order to tackle any situation that arises in future due to flood it is highly recommended that the flood forecasting program should be reviewed by various agencies. The reliability, timeliness and accuracy of any environmental management system and flood forecasting system should be improved by a significant extent. The warnings can be given in a timelier manner in order to minimize the damage of flood. The resilience of the flood forecasting team should also be reviewed. The team should be provided proper training so that resilience gets improved. There should be proper coordination between different agencies and organizations. For instance, Met office should work in collaboration with major agencies like Environment Agency and Health Protection Agency. An important issue is that there are different forecasting techniques used by different agencies. For example, Met Office uses ‘probabilistic’ technique whereas Environment Agency uses ‘deterministic’ technique (Environment Agency, 2007). As a result it is very important for both the organizations to cooperate with each other in order to deal with the situation in the most effective ways. Conclusion Flood is one of the most devastating natural calamities that have been affecting the mankind over the years. There are many factors that act as contributory factors in creating floods. Such factors include heavy rainfall, landslides, snow fall, ice jam, storm surges and tsunamis. Over the years excessive rainfall has been the most common reason of flood. In addition to it ice jam and snowfall have also been playing crucial role in creating flood like situations. Urbanisation and deforestation are the main reasons behind urban flood. Storm surges have been the most common cause of coastal flood. Tsunami is a rare incident, but when it happens huge areas get badly affected. Floods cause extreme damage to the society and environment. It kills large number of people and damage properties that worth millions of dollars. Disasters like flood can be properly handled by developing an effective environmental management system. As far as the flood that took place in Sheffield in 2007 is concerned it was one of most devastating floods in the history of UK. The agencies that played crucial part in the response activities were Environment Agency and Health Protection Agency. In order to deal with such situations in future there should be better coordination among different agencies. Moreover efficiency of flood forecasting system and environmental management system should also be improved. References Allen, J. 2001. Floods, Capstone Press Environment Agency, No Date. Sheffield, [Online] Available at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/40547.aspx [Accessed on July 11, 2010]. Environment Agency, 2007. Review of 2007 summer floods, [Pdf] Available at: http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GEHO1107BNMI-e-e.pdf [Accessed on July 11, 2010]. Health Protection Agency, 2007. HPA response to flooding, Health Protection Report, [Online] Available at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpr/archives/2007/news2007/news2607.htm [Accessed on July 11, 2010]. McDonald, R. 2003, Introduction to natural and man-made disasters and their effects on buildings, Elsevier Nelson, S. A. 2009, Flooding, River Systems & Causes of Flooding, [Online] Available at: http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/riversystems.htm [Accessed on July 11, 2010]. Richards, K. 2001. Environmental Hazards, Routledge The Why Files, No Date. Forests 'n flooding, Flood of Evidence, [Online] Available at: http://whyfiles.org/107flood/3.html [Accessed on July 11, 2010]. Thinkquest, No Date, Effects of Floods, Natural Disasters, [Online] Available at: http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00758/en/disaster/flood/effects.html [Accessed on July 11, 2010]. Read More