catastrophic flooding
Disaster from rising waters
Catastrophic flooding is flooding severe enough to cause major destruction—loss of life, displacement of populations, collapse of infrastructure.
The term appears in emergency management, insurance, and news coverage of disasters: Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic flooding across the Gulf Coast.
Unlike routine flooding, catastrophic flooding overwhelms normal response capacity and leaves lasting damage.
- delugeSevere overflow of water
- inundationOverwhelming surge of water
- torrentialFlowing in violent streams
- rising watersIncreasing water levels
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
submerged · swept away · drowning · mudslide · levee · dam · surge · overflow · displacement · evacuation · high ground · destruction · raging · broken levee · swollen · rivers · monsoon · hurricane
catastrophic floodingwater scarcity
Insufficient freshwater for demand
desiccation · dust bowl · desertification · parched earth · water shortage
catastrophe, catastrophic, catastrophically, catastrophism, catastrophist, flood, flooding, flooded, floods