Desperate Hours
In this instalment, we batten down the hatches, and run for dry land, as we look at the damage a little water can do, or rather, a great deal of it. The European Union's 'Floods Directive' defines a flood as "a covering by water of land not normally covered by water". But that rather tepid description simply doesn't do justice to the terror unleashed by raging currents and flash flooding. Natural disasters will be with us for a long time to come. But the death and destruction caused by Brazilian floods and landslides, the flooding after Hurricane Katrina and the Northern Indian Floods, could all have been reduced by environmental awareness in building codes, better coordinated relief efforts and so on. Then there was the massive flooding after the Tsunami of December 26th, 2004. Hundreds of thousands were killed in minutes, and millions lost their homes, as wave after destructive wave crashed into the coastlines of some 11 Indian Ocean countries. Environmentalists argue another factor causing floods is urbanisation. By replacing grass and dirt with buildings, roads and parking lots, insufficient soil is left, to soak up rainwater. When it does overflow, the results can be disastrous.