Flooding in South Africa
Assignment
GEO 234
D Sonnekus
2011042526
Flooding In South-Africa
A Deeper Insight to What Happens Around Us
[pic]
Photo: Ivan Sonnekus 2012
Index
Page Number
1. Introduction 3
2. The Nature Of Flooding 3
3. The Main Causes Of Flooding In South-Africa 4
4. The Effect Of Development On Flood Hazards in SA 5
5. The Effect Of The Economic Status Of People - Regarding Flood Hazards 6
6. Conclusion 7
7. Bibliography 8
1. Introduction
Floods play a major role in our everyday lives, and how we react to the daily changing climate is of course our way of surviving our planetary conditions. Floods determine our building styles and play a very large role in the economy by means of devastating destruction and environmental engineer specialists in terms of flood prevention. The hydrological definition for a flood states that a flood is a rise in water level in a stream to a peak point where after the water level will recede at a slower rate (UNESCO-WMO 1974). A flood event can be described as a flow of water in a stream constituting a distinct progressive rise, culminating into a crest, together with the recession that follows the crest (Linsley, 1942).
In this Assignment I will be explaining some key features about flooding regarding a South-African point of view.
2. The Nature of Flooding.
Floods can be broken down into different classes or divisions between different types of floods in this section I will explain the main flood types and their nature. Floods can be divided between major floods, minor floods and flash floods.
Major Floods:
In the event of a major flood the flooding is caused by the overflowing of rivers and dams by means of breaks in dikes, levees, dam walls and other protective structures; by uncontrollable releases of impounded water in reservoirs and by the accumulation of excessive runoff. In the case of a major flood the floodwaters
GEO 234
D Sonnekus
2011042526
Flooding In South-Africa
A Deeper Insight to What Happens Around Us
[pic]
Photo: Ivan Sonnekus 2012
Index
Page Number
1. Introduction 3
2. The Nature Of Flooding 3
3. The Main Causes Of Flooding In South-Africa 4
4. The Effect Of Development On Flood Hazards in SA 5
5. The Effect Of The Economic Status Of People - Regarding Flood Hazards 6
6. Conclusion 7
7. Bibliography 8
1. Introduction
Floods play a major role in our everyday lives, and how we react to the daily changing climate is of course our way of surviving our planetary conditions. Floods determine our building styles and play a very large role in the economy by means of devastating destruction and environmental engineer specialists in terms of flood prevention. The hydrological definition for a flood states that a flood is a rise in water level in a stream to a peak point where after the water level will recede at a slower rate (UNESCO-WMO 1974). A flood event can be described as a flow of water in a stream constituting a distinct progressive rise, culminating into a crest, together with the recession that follows the crest (Linsley, 1942).
In this Assignment I will be explaining some key features about flooding regarding a South-African point of view.
2. The Nature of Flooding.
Floods can be broken down into different classes or divisions between different types of floods in this section I will explain the main flood types and their nature. Floods can be divided between major floods, minor floods and flash floods.
Major Floods:
In the event of a major flood the flooding is caused by the overflowing of rivers and dams by means of breaks in dikes, levees, dam walls and other protective structures; by uncontrollable releases of impounded water in reservoirs and by the accumulation of excessive runoff. In the case of a major flood the floodwaters
Bibliography: • Anonymous. 2012. Causes and types of floods. [Web: http://kidlat.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/genmet/floods/cause_types.html]. [Accessed: 14 March 2013] • Department: provincial and local Government. 2009. National Disaster management centre. Flood awareness. PDF 5p. [Accessed: 15 March 2013] • Anonymous. 2011. La Nina Influenced Flooding in South Africa. AccuWeather. [web: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/la-nina-influenced-flooding-in/44853]. [Accessed: 13 March 2013] • SAPA. 2013. Floods Cause havoc across South Africa. Mail & Guardian, Africa 's best read. [web: http://mg.co.za/article/2013-01-20-floods-cause-havoc-across-south-africa]. [Accessed: 15 March 2013] • Anonymous. 2013. Definition and nature of flood. [web: http://kidlat.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/genmet/floods/def_nature.html]. [Accessed: 15 March 2013] • SSC. 2011. The nature of flooding. Sunshine coast council, Queensland. [web: http://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/sitePage.cfm?code=flooding-nature]. [Accessed: 13 March 2013] • Department: Provincial and Local Government, Prof Viljoen. MF, Swiegers. C. 2009. The application of flood lines in land use control. Disaster reduction conference. [web: http://conferences.ufs.ac.za/dl/userfiles/Documents/00000/134_eng.pdf]. [Accessed: 14 March 2013] • Times Live. (2011, February 2). [web: Urgent flood warning along Orange River.] [Accessed February 14, 2011]. • United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks. (2011, February 10). Southern Africa: Risk of food insecurity in wake of floods. IRIN News. [Accessed February 14, 2011.] • Anonymous. 2011. Floods in South Africa. Earth Observatory, NASA. [web: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=49258]. [Accessed: 13 March 2013]