The residents of a North Carolina town weather Hurricane Hugo, and other kinds of storms, in this “smart and funny” collection of linked stories (Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish). The days leading up to the impending disaster are not at all unusual—no portents, no signs of impending calamity. Bryce works his night shift at the hot dog factory, Isaac drives the bus to school, Evelyn attends a funeral. But when the electricity fails in the middle of the night on September 21, 1989, it marks the moment when everything will change: Hugo has arrived. The storm builds, the wind whips by faster and faster, and interpersonal dramas, grudges, and rivalries are dredged up along with the flotsam and debris. Meanwhile, flood markers, painted red, track the height of the water from past rainstorms, and as the creek level rises higher than ever before, so do the emotions of the townspeople. Floodmarkers has us look bravely at the eye of the storm, as acclaimed author Nic Brown shows us that human nature can stir up a spectacular tempest all its own. “Stories starring lovable slackers and beautiful failures . . . on my List of Favorite Books, right after The Moviegoer and just before Cathedral. Smart and funny and sexy.” —Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish “Reminiscent of Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio in both its structure and its tragi–comedic view of a small town . . . his empathy and insight into the human condition is breathtaking.” —Jonathan Ames, author of You Were Never Really Here

Floods are generally perceived as natural hazards. This book, in contrast, portrays the 'beautiful floods' of the Mekong Delta, which annually constitute a substantial resource for people's rural livelihoods. With a focus on floods, the book employs a 'lifeworlds' analysis to investigate dynamics of environmental and livelihood knowledge among farming and fishing communities, and it demonstrates that rapid agrarian change has both positive and negative impacts. (Series: ZEF Development Studies - Vol. 19)

A state-of-the-art assessment of how geomorphology contributes to the comprehension, mapping and modelling of hazardous Earth surface processes.

In the past thirty years, knowledge on flooding has greatly increased by moving away from purely hydrological and hydraulic science and opening up to other disciplines such as economics or human and geographical sciences.It is as part of this multidisciplinary approach that this book proposes a review of current knowledge on flood risk. It starts with the ever-increasing impact of flooding in order to conceptualize and understand the constituents of risk. Although risk knowledge in modeling methods or naturalist approaches remains essential, it is further developed by the fields of economics, human sciences, geography, environmental psychology and history. This integrated approach to flood risk contextualizes current conclusions on the eventual effects of climate change by showing that human factors are of paramount importance in understanding the process of "risk production. - The book sets a state of art around the "flood issue" from the description of the phenomena to the management of risk (dikes, dams, reducing vulnerability, management of crisis...). - The chapters are written by specialists but are accessible to the "mainstream scientist". - Each chapter exposes knowledge, methodologies, scientific locks and the prospects of each discipline on the theme of floods.

Flash floods typically develop in a period a few hours or less and can arise from heavy rainfall and other causes, such as dam or flood defence breaches, and ice jam breaks. The rapid development, often associated with a high debris content, can present a considerable risk to people and property. This book describes recent developments in techniques for monitoring and forecasting the development of flash floods, and providing flood warnings. Topics which are discussed include rainfall and river monitoring, nowcasting, Numerical Weather Prediction, rainfall-runoff modelling, and approaches to the dissemination of flood warnings and provision of an emergency response. The book is potentially useful on civil engineering, water resources, meteorology and hydrology courses (and for post graduate studies) but is primarily intended as a review of the topic for a wider audience.