Reading about wet weather and floods

With widespread heavy rain hitting our area today and more on the way, it is a good time to brush up on our wet-weather vocabulary. You will see many of these words in upcoming news reports.

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The Meteorological Department is warning that a low pressure cell is likely to cause torrential rain and isolated wind gusts for a large number of eastern, northeastern and central provinces. If you have looked out the window this morning, you will know that includes Bangkok.

With a typhoon to the east of the Phillipines and likely to move into the South China sea, this seems like a good time to brush up on our flood-related vocabulary.

The following comes from my book "Thailand submerged," published by Post Books, which covered the devastating 2011 floods. Fortunately, no one is predicting a repeat of that disaster for this year, but we will still see many of these flood-related words in news reports over the next few days.

Flood basics in pictures

Flood, inundate, submerge, swamp, deluge

The most basic word of all, of course, is flood, both its noun and verb forms. As a verb, you will find three common synonyms for flood: inundate, submerge and swamp. All mean to cover with water, but submerge tends to cover completely or almost completely. In the first photo, the road is completely submerged and the cars are virtually submerged. The land is inundated, or “swamped”, if you prefer. As for the noun form of flood, the most common synonym is inundation.

The great flood of 2011 was so massive it was often referred to as a deluge, a huge mass of water that seemed impossible to contain. Low-lying areas were completely inundated, fields submerged and huge areas of rice-growing lands looked like a giant swamp or a large lake.

Run-off, swell, swollen, level, overflow, burst banks
 
Heavy rains cause run-off, water that cannot be taken in naturally by the soil. When the run-off enters waterways, they swell – their water level increases to a point where flooding occurs. Swollen waterways then go over the sides, i.e., they overflow or burst their banks.

Flow, upstream, downstream, current, torrent, raging current, breach, barrier, gush, creep, seep
 
Water flows (moves) from high to low – from upstream areas to downstream areas. This flow is known as the current and during a flood it can be so strong that the adjective raging (angry) is often used to describe it. And when things get out of control, the raging current is often described as a torrent. When flood water breaks through (breaches) a barrier like a flood wall, it gushes through under great pressure. But floodwater can also move slowly, creeping gradually into new areas or seeping slowly through small holes.

Release, discharge, channel, funnel, drain, check dam, weir, dyke, embankment, reinforce

Officials in charge of flood control try to contain the waters as best they can, releasing (or discharging) water from dams before the rains come, channeling (or funneling) water away from populated areas, and draining water from areas that do get flooded. They have a whole system of defences ranging from small barriers like check dams and weirs, to much larger dykes and embankments. Sandbags are seen everywhere, reinforcing (strengthening) existing barriers or becoming dykes in themselves.

Victim, evacuate, belongings, possessions, makeshift, wade, shelter, temporary, accommodations
 
The saddest sight is the flood victims evacuating (leaving) their homes, carrying their belongings (possessions, things they own) in makeshift boats, or wading through the flood water, carrying children and possessions. The evacuees try to find shelter in the homes of relatives or in temporary (short-time) accommodations set up by the government.

Landslide, mudslide, destruction, sweep away, impassable, collapse, strand, residents, relief operation, deploy, volunteer, community
 
Continuous heavy rain causes floods and, in hilly and mountainous areas, landslides and and mudslides as well, causing death and destruction. Villages can can be swept away in an instant. Roads become impassable, bridges collapse, stranding residents who were unable to evacuate.  The relief operation to help the victims must begin immediately, so army troops are usually deployed (brought in to work), but volunteers (people who work willingly for free) from the community and elsewhere play important roles too.