There are many countries or states and even cities in the world that are highly prone to flooding. Floods are a natural disaster so nobody really knows when it will strike, although because of growing technologies and science one can estimate the time at which a flood may occur but one still can not be a hundred percent sure. sometimes some locations can get flooded without any warnings. And the locations that are most prone to flooding are situated near the river or ocean banks.
So even if people can not really stop flooding, they can definitely take measures so as to reduce the number of damages caused, both of human life and resources. And there are many countries that have deliberately thought, discussed, and then have come up with multiple ways in which they can reduce the damages caused by the natural phenomenon that is flooded.
among those countries is San Diego, with the San Diego River running across the country there are many locations that get flooded very easily, and to take proper steps their government has created multiple water damage restoration in San Diego CA which restores the damages almost instantly.
Like water damage restoration San Diego CA there are other countries that have take such preventive measures. But they are not similar to each other in all ways, because while taking these kinds of preventions one has to keep in mind multiple things like the characteristics of a particular location, the magnitude of risk they are at, what are the potential damages that can take place, the aftermaths of the floods and many more.
There are always a group of people that are selected to analyse the situation and come up with reasonable tactics to prevent and restore the area that is at risk. And they have to keep in mind the characteristics of the area and more that we have earlier mentioned. And on the basis of that they come up with measures to reduce the over all risk of flooding, even though it is not possible to completely eradicate the risk there are definitely some ways we can lower the risk level.
Some of the essential planning schemes used by most flood prone areas are as follows:
1. Construction of Dams
This is one of the most common way to prevent flood prone areas. What the dams do is it basically retains the flood water before it reaches the areas near it, hence reducing the force of water as well as the amount of water. Because most of the water is trapped in the dams, and then that dam water can be used to produce electricity. Hence, they are taking something that causes damages to both people and property and making use of it for the betterment of the people.
However, this might not be useful every time because there might be some case where the dams cannot retain the water because of the force at which it comes as well as the amount of water that comes through a big flood and during this kind of situation the idea of dams may fail.
2. Flood Barriers
Although flood barriers are not as useful as dams, they can still prevent floods in some cases. What the flood barriers basically do is they create a temporary wall between the river and the flood prone area, and when they water level starts rising it prevents the water to come through as best as it can hence, reducing the number of damages cost. One good thing about the flood barriers is that they can be removed when the water level goes back to normal.
But they have their drawbacks,among one of them being that it is of no use during big floods, yes it can be very helpful when there are small floods but in areas which are prone to big floods these flood barriers are of not much use. Hence, they are and also should be used only in areas which do not receive huge amount of floods.
3. Spillways and Channels
This is again a very useful, innovative and highly intelligent idea to reduce the risks of flood. What the channels and spillways basically do is they create a tunnel for the flood water to segregate into multiple streams and go in a particular direction, mainly towards areas that lack water resources. This once again not only helps the flood prone area to reduce its risk and destruction factor but also helps other areas to receive an ample amount of water supply.
This method not only works for areas receiving low to average floods but also woks in areas that receive huge floods. Another thing that can be done in areas receiving large amount of floods is to increase the size of the channels or spillways so that they can carry more water hence increasing the water holding capacity of the channels and spillways.
4. Building Above Water Levels
Although this technique can not be used where the flood prone areas are fully constructed. But it is unquestionably a good idea to implement in new constructions. What this basically means is that whenever a new building is constructed in a flood prone region, the builder should make sure that the building is significantly higher than the water or flood levels. And this will in turn help the building to take less damage during floods.
5. Modification of Levees
All flood prone areas already have levees installed around the area, but over a period of time their strength and integrity are at risk. So, it is important to modify the already existing levees so as to strengthen them and to make sure that they don’t topple over during heavy floods. And even during the floods the water really erodes the soil underneath the levees on which they are situated which leads to the disturbance in the sole foundation of the levees, hence it is very important to keep and check on them.