IMPACT OF FLOOD IN THE RURAL AREA OF KOTTAYAM

TOWN

LITTY JOSE

B.Ed Student

Mount Carmel College Of Teacher Education For Women

Floods are the most frequent type of disaster worldwide. It can strike anywhere and
anytime. Although floods can be predicted, they often cause massive damage and
destruction of property as most urban communities are located near water sources
such as coasts and rivers. Floods are one of the most common hazards in the United
States. Flood effects can be local, impacting a neighbourhood or community, or very
large, affecting entire river basins and multiple states. However, not all floods are
alike. While some floods develop slowly, sometimes over a period of days, flash
floods develop quickly, sometimes in just a few minutes and without any visible signs
of rain.
Floods have large social consequences for communities and individuals. As most
people are well aware, the immediate impacts of flooding include loss of human life,
damage to property, destruction of crops, loss of livestock, and deterioration of
health conditions owing to waterborne diseases.Flood is an excess of water or mud
on land that is normally dry. A flood is a condition that occurs when water overflows
the artificial or natural boundaries of a stream, river, or other body of water onto
normally dry land. Floods often happen due to heavy rainfall or thawing snow.

There are 3 common types of floods:

 Flash floods are caused by rapid and excessive rainfall that raises
water heights quickly, and rivers, streams, channels or roads may be
overtaken.
 River floods are caused when consistent rain or snow melt forces a
river to exceed capacity.
 Coastal floods are caused by storm surges associated with tropical
cyclones and tsunami.

Flooding of urban areas can result in significant damage to private property,

including homes and businesses. Losses occur due to damage to both the structure
and contents of buildings. Insurance of the structure and its contents against
flooding can reduce the impacts of floods on individuals or companies.

Objectives of the study

 To study the potential impact of flood in people, property and natural
environment.
 To check the effectiveness of warning systems and emergency
communications during flood .
 To identify the effectiveness of government interventions during flood.
Methodology

Survey method was adopted to study “The impact of flood on the rural
areas of Kottayam town”. The study consists of 40 people in the
locality. The tool consists 24 questions related to the topic. Most of the
questions were having yes/no options.

Major Findings
 From the study it is clear that 98% of the people are effected by
in Kottayam town .
 88 % of the people had different kind of losses due to flood.
 90 % of the people received warnings in advance and only 85% of
the people were ready to move away from their homes.
 95 % of the people moved to government initiated relief camps,
but only 12% of them got individual help from the government .

Suggestions
 Government should conduct awareness programmes on the impact of
flood.
 Advice people to adopt planting vegetation’s to retain excess water .
 Create flood plains and overflow areas for rivers.
 Improve flood warning mechanisms to reduce the impact on human life
 Drill education should be introduced in collaboration with concerned
authorities.

Conclusion
The findings emphasize that the awareness of flood is not satisfactory and
there is a severe need of proper warnings mechanisms. The government
must ensure there is a quality building of dams to prevent flood. In short we
cannot prevent natural causes like rain and the melting of glaciers. However
we can stop the manmade causes like breaking of dams, poor drainage
systems, installing warning systems and more