Flooding: A unique year

Floods have been and continue to be one of the most destructive hazards facing the people of the United States. Of all the natural hazards, floods are the most widespread and the most ruinous to life and property. Today, floods are a greater menace to our welfare than ever before because we live in large numbers near water and have developed a complex reliance upon it. From large rivers to country creeks, from mountain rills to the trickles that occasionally dampen otherwise arid wastelands, every stream in the United States is subject to flooding at some time. Floods strike in myriad forms, including sea surges driven by wild winds or tsunamis churned into fury by seismic activity. By far the most frequent, however, standing in a class by themselves, are the inland, freshwater floods that are caused by rain, by melting snow and ice, or by the bursting of structures that man has erected to protect himself and his belongings from angry waters.