Flooding

Question 1

What is flooding

Answer 1

A flood occurs when a river has water in its channel and its spill onto the surrounding land.

Question 2

Name 5 physical causes of flooding

Answer 2

Heavy rain
snowmelt
Long periods of rain
Very wet saturated soils
Steep slopes
Impermeable rocks

Question 3

Name 2 human causes of flooding

Answer 3

Urbanisation and deforestation

Question 4

What are some positive effects on flooding

Answer 4

Floods bring mud and minerals to the soil which makes it fertile for farming.
Can flush out any pollution and make the land more usable.
Lakes created by flooding can provide breeding areas for fish/prawns- these are a good food source for people

Question 5

What are some negative effects on flooding

Answer 5

Homes can be flooded
Farm animals may drown
Crops die- in poor countries this could lead to starvation
Sewage systems may overflow
Transport and travel can be disrupted

Question 6

What are some hard flood management strategies

Answer 6

Building dams
Straightening the river
Building concreted levees

Question 7

What is hard engineering

Answer 7

Include measures that are more expensive and require built structures
They also don’t look natural

Question 8

What are some soft flood management strategies

Answer 8

Planting trees
Land use zoning
Providing flood warnings

Question 9

What is soft engineering

Answer 9

Usually less expensive
More natural processes
Will attempt to manage floods rather than prevent them