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A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is usually dry.〔MSN Encarta Dictionary. (Flood. ) Retrieved on 2006-12-28. (Archived ) 2009-10-31.〕 The European Union (EU) Floods Directive defines a flood as a covering by water of land not normally covered by water.〔(Directive 2007/60/EC Chapter 1 Article2 ). eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved on 2012-06-12.〕 In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may occur as an overflow of water from water bodies, such as a river or lake, in which the water overtops or breaks levees, resulting in some of that water escaping its usual boundaries,〔Glossary of Meteorology (June 2000). (Flood. ) Retrieved on 2009-01-09.〕 or it may occur due to an accumulation of rainwater on saturated ground in an areal flood. While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, these changes in size are unlikely to be considered significant unless they flood property or drown domestic animals. Floods can also occur in rivers when the flow rate exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders in the waterway. Floods often cause damage to homes and businesses if they are in the natural flood plains of rivers. While riverine flood damage can be eliminated by moving away from rivers and other bodies of water, people have traditionally lived and worked by rivers because the land is usually flat and fertile and because rivers provide easy travel and access to commerce and industry. Some floods develop slowly, while others such as flash floods, can develop in just a few minutes and without visible signs of rain. Additionally, floods can be local, impacting a neighborhood or community, or very large, affecting entire river basins. ==Etymology== The word "flood" comes from the Old English ''flod'', a word common to Germanic languages (compare German ''Flut'', Dutch ''vloed'' from the same root as is seen in ''flow, float''; also compare with Latin ''fluctus'', ''flumen''). Deluge myths are mythical stories of a great flood sent by a deity or deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution, and they are featured in the mythology of many cultures. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「flood」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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