CBSE Book Class 8 Disaster Management Floods

FLOODS

The story of Partho 12 years old Partho lives with his parents and three little sisters in a small village nearby the big Mahanadi River in Orissa, close to the coast. His father is a farmer and has a big large field where he cultivates rice. Rice needs lots of water to grow and so Partho’s father was very happy when the monsoon started. If he could get good rice and sell it, he would have money to send Partho’s younger sisters to school! One day it started to rain and it rained hard for many days. People were happy but the rain didn’t stop. After ten days, the villager started to get very worried as the river was swelling. Their fields were at risk of being inundated by the water. Flooding is dangerous for the villagers as it could destroy their houses and crops and also kill them and their cattle.

Partho was home with his sisters when they heard people screaming that the river was starting to overflow. They were all very scared as their house was not very far from the river. Suddenly, Partho remembered what the teacher had told them at school a few weeks earlier during a cyclone and floods preparedness lesson. There was a cyclone shelter nearby the village where people could find refuge in case of cyclones and also floods.

Partho took his sisters to the shelter and they stayed there together with all the other villagers and also their parents. They had to remain in the shelter for three whole days and nights, watching helplessly as homes, fields, bullock-carts, everything got submerged. When they finally came out they were scared and very tired but at least they were alive! Read the story given above. What helped Partho to save himself and his near and dear ones from being washed away? This is called PREPAREDNESS. Yes! Disasters occur in all the countries in the world. But the community that prepares itself to face them better survives better.

What is a Flood?

A flood occurs when water flows or rises above and beyond its normal place or course. The danger this causes to people and buildings is called the flood hazard. The most common kind of floodhappens when a river overflows its banks, and water spreads on to the surrounding land, called a riverine flood.

This is caused by rainwater or melting snow draining into the river faster than the river can discharge water into the sea. The amount of water that a river can hold before a flood starts is known as channel capacity. Other causes of flooding are strong tides, storms at sea, cyclones, and tsunamis. Sediment deposition or silting of riverbeds and the synchronisation of river floods with sea tides compound the problem of floods in the coastal plains. Important

Where do floods occur?

Unlike cyclones, floods are common to all countries. North and Eastern India are particularly prone to floods. The most flood-prone areas are the Brahmaputra, Ganga and Meghana basins in the Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains in north and Northeast India, which carry 60 per cent of the nation’s total river flow. In India it is spread over 15 states and about 47 per cent of India’s population resides in the basin. The other flood-prone areas are the Northwest regions with the west-flowing rivers like the Narmada and Tapti, Central India and the Deccan Plateau with major east-flowing rivers like the Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari and Cauvery. The map here shows the flood-prone areas in India. The Ganga and the Brahmaputra cause maximum flooding.

Please refer to the link below for - CBSE Class 8 Disaster Management - Floods