At a Glance: Types of Floods

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with the NASA Earth Observatory.

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA except:

·       Illustration of northwestern U.S. based on illustration from NOVA/WGBH “Mystery of the Megaflood” website

·       Glacial Lake Missoula painting courtesy of Byron Pickering

·       Dry Falls photo ©2004 Teri J. Pieper, www.byways.org

·       Palouse Hills photo courtesy of Lynn Suckow

·       Sea creature illustration copyright The National Library of Israel, Shapell Family Digitization Project _and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Geography – Historic Cities Research Project

·       Photos of Mississippi River with debris courtesy of Thomas R. Machnitzki

·       Video of clouds over eastern U.S. courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

·       Snow-to-rain animation by Marc Lussier, STScI

·       Satellite images of flooding in Birds Point–New Madrid Floodway courtesy of MODIS Today,

·       Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

·       Morganza Spillway video and photos courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

·       Photo of Mississippi River sediment plume entering Gulf of Mexico courtesy of Nancy Rabalais/Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium

·       Algae bloom photo courtesy of National Ocean Service/NOAA

·       Photo of fish kill on Grand Isle, Louisiana, courtesy of Kerry St. Pé

·       Mississippi River dead zone animation courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

·       Photo of flooded farm near Vicksburg, Mississippi, courtesy of the National Weather Service

·       Map of Mississippi River course changes courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

 

Music courtesy of Associated Production Music

Written by Andrea Gianopoulos

Designed by Marc Lussier

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An animation of Earth in a star-filled sky. Text, at-a-GLANCE, Floods

 

There are three main types of floods; coastal, seasonal, and flash floods.

 

Coastal Floods, Southern Gulf Coast, Mexico, Flash Floods, Brazil, South America, Seasonal Floods, Mozambique, Africa

 

Coastal floods occur when ocean water surges onto the land.

 

Before and After satellite images, Coastal Floods, Southern Gulf Coast, Mexico. Hurricanes are the most common cause of coastal flooding.

 

Hurricane Karl flooded land along the coastline of Veracruz, Mexico, in September 2010.

 

Mozambique, Africa. Seasonal floods happen regularly.

 

They may be the result of snow melt, spring rain, or summer monsoon rains.

 

Before and After satellite images, Seasonal Floods, Mozambique, Africa. The rainy season begins in October and runs through March in southern Africa.

 

The Pungue River in Africa and its surrounding wetlands are saturated and will offer life-giving water during the dry season.

 

Brazil, South America. Flash floods are rapid floods that can occur after a heavy rainstorm, hurricane, tsunami, or collapse of a dam.

 

Flash floods often occur in desert regions, where sudden heavy rains fill dry canyons, riverbeds, and lakebeds.

 

Before and After satellite images, Flash Floods, Brazil, South America. landslides. Nearly 10 inches, a month's worth of rain, fell on the Serra do Mar mountain region in Brazil on January 12, 2011.

 

The downpours provoked flash floods and sent rivers of mud flowing down steep hillsides, killing 860 people and leaving at least 8,700 homeless.