2.4 questions

1. A flood is caused when water inundates land which is normally dry. Floods are one natural hazard that
many communities have had to learn to deal with.
2. Small rivers and
streams are unable to cope with the sudden volume of water caused by heavy downpours so flooding results.
This happens in urban areas as well when drainage systems become overloaded, resulting in flooding.
3. Inland rivers are usually large and coastal rivers are usually small
4. Destruction to buildings, many deaths and injuries and prices on food and fuel may increase.
5. The town of Katherine received 374 millimetres of rain while the surrounding catchment area received between 400 and 500 millimetres over a short period of time (48 hours). The catchment was already saturated from previous weeks rainfall so most of the new rainfall ran off into the river which quickly caused a flood. The reason it was considered worse than the 2006 flood was because the 1998 flood peaked at 20.3 Metres above its usual flow level, where in 2006 it only peaked at 19 Metres. 
6.  Economic: The flood would of impacted the Economy in Katherine due to the damage caused by the flooding, which cost a lot of money in repair costs.
Social: The social impact was bad because it caused 500 businesses and 1170 homes to be evacuated and Four people were killed as well as flooding the Whole town.
Environmental: The flooding can drown plants and crops and livestock.

7. b) The Coastal gradient was a lot smaller than compared to the Inland River Catchment Gradient.

c) The gradient in a Coast area is a lot smaller so the water hasn't got that much land to pass through before it is cleared, compared to the inland river systems which have thousands of kilometres to pass through.  

10. I had just moved to the town called Katherine, I decided to buy the local Motel because it seemed to be just about the only place tourists would be able to stay meaning it would be money well spent, if not profitable. Little did I know that it was in one of the worse areas if a flood were to occur. It was almost February of 1998, and one of the worst floods I've ever seen hit. 2 Metres of water came rushing through taking cars with it. As soon as I saw the water I knew the damage would be devastation. We moved to the highest floor in the motel avoiding the water, but we could hear it as it seeped through the doors and open windows flooding the motel below us. We came outside to see people crying at the loss of their possessions and one person actually asking why the floods had taken his son. It was truly one of the worse days that Katherine had seen.