Floods are one of the most common natural disasters.  Floods are caused by melting deep snow cover, wet or saturated soil and overflowing reservoirs/dams.  Most floods are caused by heavy rains and influenced by climate and the place.

Right now across the world floods are happening whether you know it or not.  Places like the Philippines, Thailand, Brazil and Australia have all recently encountered floods.  These floods don’t just happen for no reason…and you can find the causes listed above. Heavy monsoon rains come every year and threaten many places.   On December 20, 2011 an estimated 1,000 people living on the southern island of Mindanao (in the Philippines) died from severe flooding from Tropical Storm Washi.  In Thailand more flooding in January, 2012 caused more people to lose their homes and lives.  In Brazil, the Amazon River flooded to three times its size, effecting that country’s iron ore producing city.  About 10, 300 people were evacuated and 3,000 homes destroyed.  The Indus River Basin is threatened every year with heavy rains causes people in India and Pakistan to flee from the rising waters.

Floods can be destructive, demolishing houses and buildings. They can cost up to billions of dollars to repair.  Though all floods seem to destroy things, they also have benefits.  Floods bring great farming soil to the land that helps grow crops. We  have learned that many great rivers of the world bring silt down from the mountains.   Silt is a good natural fertilizer that makes plants grow better…you can see this in the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates and the Yellow River to name a few.

It’s a balance of the bad parts and the good parts.  People just have to become aware of where they are building their homes and cities.

So what’s deadly, dirty and creeps on the ground?  A flood.

This article was written as part of our class’ experiment with Google Jockey.  It was written by many people including, Maryn, Elly, Lexie, Bethany, Natalie,  Cam, Clara, Max, Erin,  Claire, Tripp,  Jill