Flooding in the US, the most devastating

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

The territory of the United States is quite often exposed to the catastrophic effects of various natural disasters. These are strong earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, and terrible hurricanes, and much more from natural elements. There are also floods in the US. And although they rarely happen, they bring a lot of troubles, as they are most often catastrophic.

Devastating floods in the US

The main causes of flooding are river floods in low-lying areas of the terrain, caused by a significant excess of precipitation, as well as powerful hurricanes raging on the ocean coast of the country. Torrential thunderstorms often cause flooding in mountainous areas of the United States, when narrow canyons instantly fill with rainwater.

Mississippi spills

In the history of the country, the Mississippi River overflowed its banks twice, causing catastrophic floods. The flood in the United States in 1927 was called the Great, and it fully deserved it both for its grandiosity,and the monstrous devastating consequences to which it led.

The beginning of the flood was laid by prolonged heavy rains in the autumn of 1926. Numerous tributaries of the Mississippi were overflowing with water and were ready to overflow their banks at any moment. In the spring, heavy rains resumed, and this was enough for the river to break through the system of protective dams on April 15, 1927 and rushed into the vast expanses of the Mississippi lowland. The flooded area was 70,000 km22. Ten states of the country were affected by the elements, especially Arkansas, in which 14% of the territory went under water. During the disaster, 246 people died, over 700 thousand people lost their homes.

In 1993, the US flood on the Mississippi was repeated. Its cause was again the rainy autumn and snowy winter of 1992. In the spring, the river overflowed its banks and flooded more than 80 thousand square kilometers. The disaster lasted more than seven months: until October 1993. Tens of thousands of houses were destroyed, 32 people were killed, and the damage caused by the disaster amounted to tens of billions of dollars.

Revenge of the Hurricanes

Almost every year, the US coast along the Atlantic Ocean is hit by powerful hurricanes. The strongest of them also cause flooding in the United States, especially in the states of Florida, Louisiana, Texas and North Carolina. The worst and most destructive hurricanes were Galvestian in 1900, Andrew in 1992, Katrina in 2005.

But perhaps the most powerful was the 2012 US flood caused by Hurricane Sandy. It was observed on most of the east coast of the country. A tropical cyclone that formed over the Atlantic swept along the coast of Florida and the northeastern states of the country. The states of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut were hit hardest by the hurricane.

The consequences of Hurricane Sandy were terrible. Millions of people were left without electricity for a long time, a large number of buildings were destroyed, transport was paralyzed. He claimed the lives of more than a hundred people, including young children. People suffered not only from floods, but also from numerous fires that occurred in some cities. The state suffered billions of dollars in damage.