Report
Floods cost billions of dollars worldwide each year. To bring down the damage and costs of floods, I think that a levee diversion system is the best way to mitigate the negative effects of this natural disaster. I will explain what a flood is, why it is so devastating and all the different ways we could try to minimize the damage.
Floods have caused immense damage in certain areas, but what is a flood and why did it wreak havoc in the areas that it did? A flood is an overflow of water that can become very dangerous when it gains speed and power. When a flood happens it will normally only be able to stay around by moving down hills or into a dip where there is no drainage. This can form small lakes or surging rivers. A flood only needs a small slope to keep moving at the same pace as going down a big hill if it has the momentum; this is one of the main reasons that area could have been flooded. Enough reason could be because of the rainfall there because the rain could cause a river or lake to overflow and have the excess water from a flood. The west port floods in 2022 were caused by heavy rainfall that made one of the rivers that are right next to the town overflow even with flood measures in place from other floods. This town has been flooded before as well and it is in a flood-prone area. Floods can be very dangerous when they pick up speed and can cause a lot of damage in low lying areas by rivers and lakes when they overflow. This is why we need a solution to mitigate the effects of flooding.
There are 3 types of flooding that can affect towns, cities and communities in different ways depending on where they are located and how the town is mapped out. With the force and destruction of flooding These 3 types of floods can be devastating in unique ways.
The most known type of flood is a River flood, which is basically when excess water flows out of a river and that water will turn into a flood slowly over time with rain and cause big damage once it is at its peak which it can stay around for quite a while. These types of floods can linger around for quite a long time when they do not find someplace where they can be stopped or trapped like in a ditch or trench and any place where there is low drainage. This can cause a small lake to form which isn’t good as it will mean the water will stay around longer. To deal with this we will want to have in place a good drainage system so that the water doesn't stay around for a long time and gain speed or else it can cause immense damage to properties and may kill people.
A flash flood occurs when there is intense rain and is known for its fast arrival and retreat which is lucky as it has speed and a lot of power which is very dangerous and can cause heaps of problems. These can be very bad due to their power to retreat and drag stuff at a faster speed This can cause heaps of money for the cleanup cost or it could be too damaged to live or retrieve the objects again. This can affect a person's mental state knowing that their house may not be standing good enough to live in again.
The last one is called a coastal flood which is made when there are big waves that flow into coastal towns. These are dangerous as when the flood retreats it will pull out stuff left Untied and even people if they are in the worst situation. These floods are normally caused by cyclones that will also bring heavy rain but if there is a river nearby then it can become really bad. When the surge hits the incoming water out of a river it will cause it to split and this has caused many floods, when this happens the water will be pushed to the sides of the river and have the water spill into the towns by the riverside and the water will keep rolling into the town and cause many
Why are floods such a problem?
Floods can have big impacts in some areas even if it is a smaller flood. This is because their power to drag stuff along is very dangerous and if it is deep enough it could easily be the cause of a person's death. The blood's ability to rip stuff off the ground and have it hidden in its body is very dangerous, as the pole or tree could slam into a person or something they own coursing heaps of damage and leaving people without bikes cars or houses as they had all been caught in the flood and can no longer be used or lived in. The flood in Westport last year devastated many homes and left people with very little. This flood also affected farmers with most of their fields flooded, many losing their livestock before they could get to them. To drain and make up for grass, dirt and livestock for all the frames would cost a huge amount of money. To minimize the damaging effects on the people and their stuff we will have to implement something to help.
What are people using now to try and mitigate flooding at the moment? There are 3 main ways that people have come up with to try and mitigate the effects of flooding. I will explain what they are. The first one is levees. These are like trenches designed to slow down the flood and capture some of the water, these are effective and used in many countries. The next one is man-made rivers. They are used as a way to direct water out of a river and make sure that the water does not spill out. They have a gate-type thing to allow water to go down the man-made river or to keep the water in the natural one. The last one is a dam, these are known around the world. These big things are made to be able to store water and let out at a steady pass to prepare for heavy rainfall. They make an artificial lake to store the water. These are very effective. These methods all work in different situations but how can we know which one mitigates the effects of a flood better?
How can we improve the current methods to mitigate the effects of flooding? We already know that the methods in the last paragraph work but which one is better and how can they be improved?
Dams are very effective but there have been some failures that have caused towns to be flooded. I think to improve dams they should have a constant amount of water slowly going out as well as having a team on-site to be able to manage and fix stuff so that it does not burst. If we can try and be able to catch the water and then have it distributed somewhere that it will not be able to spill out and cause a flood, a possible way to do this would be having this go out to the sea or river but there are problems to do this and limitations.
For man-made rivers, I think we should improve the size and direction of where the water will go. The first thing would be just making it deeper and wider. Then you would want to direct the water in the man-made river to the sea, a lake or even a dam if it has space before trying to link up to the natural river. If we can have this done it would be able to take some stress off the main river.
To try and improve levees, I think that we should try and divert the water so that the levees do not overflow but catch and then direct the water away to a river or the sea. To do this you would have to do it in certain areas where there is a place or places that can store the water. In my opinion, if the levee system can be introduced then that would be the most effective if carried out properly. If this is done then it could mitigate the effects of flooding hugely and save lives.
A current way that people are using to try and mitigate the deaths of people by floods is a warning message. There are many cons to this method like the mental toll of having to leave their house and belongings not knowing if they will have been destroyed or swept away is very hard for people. One more is that it does not solve the problem of the millions of dollars going to the cleanup.
I think that the best way to mitigate the effects of a flood is with the improved levee system because it will be able to take away the flood's momentum and power as well as the debris that it carries. Summarize briefly the main points of your solution to the problem. To do this, we will have to have a company willing to help as well as the government's support with the big project. In the long term, I think this method could save many lives and millions of dollars for NZ. Can we prevent flood effects shortly or can we stop them completely?
Bibliography
https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/flood-control/274346
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Ust-be-taken-to-prevent-more-flooding-in-the-future-a6788866.html