THE CAUSE, IMPACT AND EFFECTS OF FLOODS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Introduction
This piece of writing serves to investigate the area of South Africa more in detail, Kwazulu-
Natal in terms of the presence of the natural phenomena that affects it the most- floods.
According to National Geographic Society (2015), ‘Floods are among Earth’s most common-and
most destructive- natural hazards’, they define floods as a geographical process that occurs
when water overflows over the earth’s surface that is originally dry and can occur in numerous
ways, however the most common manner is when a stream, tributary or distributary overflows a
bank and spreads to non-water bodies because of extensive amounts of rainfall, faltering dam
walls and other aspects. Water runs from a high lying area to a low-lying area through different
water channels that begin to meet up and merge to increase in volume, the duration of time that
it takes for this to occur depends on the strength of the flow or the strength of participation and
flooding can occur as both laminar and turbulent discharges, (Redd, 2012). The high risk of
flooding in this particular area is mainly due to its geographical location as it is a coastal region
that experiences substantial rainfall, thus, the causes of floods in these regions will be studied
first. The affect that these floods have on the area in terms of human, natural and the built
environment impact. The strategies of how these effects could have been prevented or
minimized will then be discussed such as more innovative planning, improved emergency
services and a greater emphasis on prediction of weather patterns and influence. Thus, the
enquiry of the type of floods experienced in the region of Kwazulu Natal can be made. Flash
flooding occurs which refers to large amounts of rainfall within short periods of time, they
experience storm surges which are extremely high sea levels that are partnered with ‘severe
meteorological conditions’ and ‘high tides’ (Goschen, 2011), Overbank flooding where water
flow is much faster and vigorous (Redd, 2012) and flooding can also be caused by Engineering
faults because of human error in the built environment of dam walls and other infrastructure
(Redd, 2011). Due to the consequences of flooding in this region many human lives have been
lost, livestock and food crops have been lost which has staggered the rate of development,
productivity and the economy. The role played by state support and awareness will also be
interrogated.
1
,Figure 1: Map of Kwazulu Natal. Designer not stated. Available from:
http://kzntopbusiness.co.za/site/user_data/images/map_6.jpg [Accessed 02 April 2017]
2
, Figure 2: Map of the larger KZN region affected by floods. Cartographer not stated.
Source: Available from http://www.safarikzn.com/images/maps/img_kzn_map_01.JPG
[Accessed 02 April 2017]
3
Introduction
This piece of writing serves to investigate the area of South Africa more in detail, Kwazulu-
Natal in terms of the presence of the natural phenomena that affects it the most- floods.
According to National Geographic Society (2015), ‘Floods are among Earth’s most common-and
most destructive- natural hazards’, they define floods as a geographical process that occurs
when water overflows over the earth’s surface that is originally dry and can occur in numerous
ways, however the most common manner is when a stream, tributary or distributary overflows a
bank and spreads to non-water bodies because of extensive amounts of rainfall, faltering dam
walls and other aspects. Water runs from a high lying area to a low-lying area through different
water channels that begin to meet up and merge to increase in volume, the duration of time that
it takes for this to occur depends on the strength of the flow or the strength of participation and
flooding can occur as both laminar and turbulent discharges, (Redd, 2012). The high risk of
flooding in this particular area is mainly due to its geographical location as it is a coastal region
that experiences substantial rainfall, thus, the causes of floods in these regions will be studied
first. The affect that these floods have on the area in terms of human, natural and the built
environment impact. The strategies of how these effects could have been prevented or
minimized will then be discussed such as more innovative planning, improved emergency
services and a greater emphasis on prediction of weather patterns and influence. Thus, the
enquiry of the type of floods experienced in the region of Kwazulu Natal can be made. Flash
flooding occurs which refers to large amounts of rainfall within short periods of time, they
experience storm surges which are extremely high sea levels that are partnered with ‘severe
meteorological conditions’ and ‘high tides’ (Goschen, 2011), Overbank flooding where water
flow is much faster and vigorous (Redd, 2012) and flooding can also be caused by Engineering
faults because of human error in the built environment of dam walls and other infrastructure
(Redd, 2011). Due to the consequences of flooding in this region many human lives have been
lost, livestock and food crops have been lost which has staggered the rate of development,
productivity and the economy. The role played by state support and awareness will also be
interrogated.
1
,Figure 1: Map of Kwazulu Natal. Designer not stated. Available from:
http://kzntopbusiness.co.za/site/user_data/images/map_6.jpg [Accessed 02 April 2017]
2
, Figure 2: Map of the larger KZN region affected by floods. Cartographer not stated.
Source: Available from http://www.safarikzn.com/images/maps/img_kzn_map_01.JPG
[Accessed 02 April 2017]
3
