Causes And Effects Of Floods And Droughts
DROUGHT
Sometimes it does not rain for a long time—for an entire month, two months, the whole season, two years, etc. The abnormally long period of insufficient or no rainfall at all is called drought.
During drought, rivers run dry, water level in lakes goes down, and even the water in the soil dries up. There is very little or no water available during a drought. Most plants die leading to lack of food in the region. The lack of food in a region for a long period is called famine. When there are no plants, animals that survive on plants also die. Animals and humans also die due to thirst and dehydration (excessive loss of water from the body).
FLOOD
Just as too little rain is bad, too much rain is bad as well. It leads to water being everywhere, sometimes the entire area remains under water or submerged. A condition when ground becomes submerged under water, due to heavy rain and overflowing of rivers is called flood.
During a flood, plants and crops die either due to suffocation by excess water or due to soil being washed away, robbing their roots of support. In such waterlogged conditions, many disease-causing germs start multiplying and cause water-borne diseases. Sometimes water-borne diseases affect thousands of people at the same time. A disease affecting thousands of people at the same time is called an epidemic.