Flash flood

They can also deposit large quantities of sediments on floodplains and destroy vegetation cover not adapted to frequent flood conditions.

Flash flooding can also be caused by extensive rainfall released by hurricanes and other tropical storms, as well as the sudden thawing effect of ice dams.

Second, these rains often fall on poorly absorbent and often clay-like soil, which greatly increases the amount of runoff that rivers and other water channels have to handle.

In fact, in some areas, desert roads frequently cross a dry river and creek beds without bridges.

[8] Finally, the lack of regular rain to clear water channels may cause flash floods in deserts to be headed by large amounts of debris, such as rocks, branches, and logs.

The effects of flash floods can be catastrophic and show extensive diversity, ranging from damages in buildings and infrastructure to impacts on vegetation, human lives and livestock.

The scale was proposed as a tool on prevention planning, as the resulting maps offer insights on future impacts, highlighting the high severity areas.

[15] However, flash floods of short duration produce relatively little bedrock erosion or channel widening, having their greatest impact from sedimentation on the floodplain.