foreign we're going to learn about floods what is a flood a flood is a great flowing or overflowing of water onto land that is not usually covered by water a flood is a type of natural disaster floods are the most common and expensive natural disasters there are several types of floods River flooding coastal flooding and flash floods River flooding happens when rivers and streams cannot hold all the extra water that falls during a rainstorm or from melting snow the water rises in the rivers and streams and overflows onto normally dry land the area around a river is called a flood plain this area naturally gets flooded when a river cannot hold the extra water unfortunately humans have built cities and towns within the floodplain floods destroy Farmland wash away people's houses and drown people and animals within the floodplain coastal flooding is another type of flooding coastal flooding can be caused by strong winds blowing waves onto the land hurricanes and major storms produce most Coastal floods the arrival of a hurricane at high tide can cause severe flooding because the level of the ocean is already high flash floods are another type of flooding a flash flood is a quick flood caused by sudden rain or thunderstorm flash floods also happen in mountainous areas where steep slopes cause the water to travel at high speeds washing soil down the mountain when flood waters rise slowly people have time to get ready they can move themselves and some of their property to Higher Ground or build barriers to keep the water out of their homes unfortunately that's not always the case sometimes the water rises quickly and people in cars get caught in the flood water gets into buildings causing damage things are washed away and people have to leave their homes [Music] foreign