What Causes Floods In South Africa?
Like many other countries, seasonal rains bring floods in many areas of South Africa. There are many different causes of floods, but why does flooding happen? Flooding has a number of human causes, including inadequate infrastructure. Flooding can occur for natural reasons as well. In South Africa, there were 77 significant floods between 1980 and 2010, which claimed at least 1,068 lives.
Since 2010, there have been many devastating floods that have resulted in fatalities, lost livelihoods, and significant infrastructure damage.
Although science and technology have advanced, floods continue to impact people and property the most often of all natural disasters.
Causes Of Floods In South Africa
When streams are unable to hold the amounts of water that quickly flow into them during the intense and protracted rainstorm, they rise faster and have greater peak discharge rates.
The fact that culverts and concrete channels cannot adapt to fluctuations in the frequency of heavy rain, unlike natural streams, is a significant drawback. When these drains become blocked by solid waste and silt, the issue gets worse.
The susceptibility of inhabitants to floods is increased by crowded, cramped, and subpar housing. When higher-than-normal rainfall volumes are obtained, flooding is commonly observed in built-up regions that are poorly designed and managed (usually indicative of developing areas).
Building in flood-prone locations also occurs when individuals are unable to afford to purchase land in safer places or fail to recognize the danger. Flash floods are more common as a result of garbage being dumped in rainwater drainage systems and rapid spatial development that is accompanied by the degradation of vegetation.
Effects
In these circumstances, floods can result in physical, economic, and social destruction, including harm and death, homelessness, and income loss.
They have negative effects on both bodily and mental health, such as cholera and diarrhea.
How To Proceed
Urban flood management requires appropriate local, regional, or national action, with communities resolving issues solely within their jurisdictions, local governments resolving issues solely within their borders, and national governments or international river basin organizations resolving issues spanning multiple administrations.
Significant investment is needed, along with making sure that guidelines for both the planning and building of infrastructure and flood prevention systems are adjusted to account for changing precipitation characteristics.
