Flood
Sometimes a river receives a lot of extra water, either from lots of rain or other natural disasters. When this happens, the water overflows from its normal path in the river bed and possibly onto dry land. This is called flooding.
During a flood, people should move themselves and their most precious valuables to higher ground quickly. The process of leaving your home behind in search of a safe place is called evacuation.
[change] Pollution of drinking water
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During a flood there is plenty of water, but it is mostly polluted and not safe to drink. If people drink the contaminated water they may suffer from illnesses or diseases such as typhoid and cholera. People can prepare for flooding by filling many containers with fresh clean drinking water or using sandbags (to protect their houses and soak up the water). A flood is an overflow or accumulation of an expanse of water that submerges land. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also mean the inflow of the tide. Flooding usually results from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows. The result is that some of the water escapes its usual boundaries. Floods can also occur in rivers, when the strength of the river is so high it flows out of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders and causes damage to homes and businesses along such rivers. While flood damage can be eliminated by moving away from rivers and other lakes, people have lived and worked by the water to seek sustenance, and capitalize on the gains of cheap and easy travel and commerce easily, by being near water.
Queensland floods are hurting Australia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by wiping as much as $9 billion off export revenues.
Operations at at least 40 coal mines in central Queensland's Bowen Basin have been disrupted because of the floods. Crops have been damaged and grazing lands are under water.
The state is responsible for more than half of Australia's coal exports, 45 per cent of meat and a quarter of fresh food exports.
