what have historic flash floods taught us?
Matthew Kelsch, UCAR/COMET, Boulder, CO; and W. Abshire The scenes depicted in the newspaper photos, on the television, or in the Internet video clips are often quite similar. Helpless people are suddenly in terrible danger as their seemingly safe haven is engulfed by a deluge of water. Often the victims are surprised by how quickly the water rose. Many are equally surprised by the seemingly small amount of water it takes to sweep their vehicles off the ground. Often flood victims question why flood control programs didn’t work, or why forecasts weren’t more specific. Flash floods are one of the deadliest meteorological phenomena in the United States and around the world. A flash flood is a particularly dangerous type of flood that occurs within 6 hours of when the rainfall begins. From the parched deserts to the humid plains to the steep mountain ranges, nature is able to occasionally combine intense rainfall with specific ground conditions to produce a rapid-onset flood along small s
