What is meant by the term flood stage?
Flood stage is an established gage height for a given location above, which a rise in water surface level begins to create a hazard to lives, property, or commerce. The issuance of flood warnings for river locations is linked to flood stage. Flood stage is not necessarily the same as bankfull stage. What is the meaning of a “100 year” flood? The 100-year flood, or x-year flood, refers to the probability of those events occurring. That is, for a 100-year flood, there is a 1 percent chance in any given year of having a flood of that magnitude. For a 500-year flood, there is a 0.2 percent chance of having a flood of that magnitude occurring. It should be stressed that the 100-year and 500-year events are independent events, from the perspective of probability. That means if one of those events occurs, it has no effect on future events occurring. In other words, if a 100-year flood event occurs, that does not mean people are “safe” for 99 years. The risk of having the flood in any given ye
