the.com/flash flood
Nature's reminder that a peaceful creek can become a freight train in minutes
means A sudden, violent flood that rises with little warning, usually triggered by intense rainfall over a short period or by a dam or levee failure.
from A transparent compound of two old Germanic-rooted words. 'Flash' once meant a sudden burst or splash of water before it ever meant light — its earliest senses, dating back centuries, were about water dashing or rushing. 'Flood' comes from Old English 'flod,' related to the verb 'flow' and a whole family of Germanic water-words. So 'flash flood' is literally a 'sudden-rush flood,' a phrase that grew naturally as English needed a name for water that arrives all at once rather than creeping.
- speed
- Walls of water move up to 30 mph
- deadly depth
- Six inches can knock a person down
- car killer
- Two feet floats most vehicles away
- desert danger
- Dry canyons flood from storms miles upstream
- timing
- Can strike within minutes of heavy rain