Floods: Natural Hazards In the late summer of 2005, the remarkable flooding brought by Hurricane Katrina, which caused more than $200 billion in losses, constituted the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. However, even in typical years, flooding causes billions of dollars in damage and threatens lives and property in every State. Natural processes, such as hurricanes, weather systems, and snowmelt, can cause floods. Failure of levees and dams and inadequate drainage in urban areas can also result in flooding. On average, floods kill about 140 people each year and cause $6 billion in property damage. Although loss of life to floods during the past half-century has declined, mostly because of improved warning systems, economic losses have continued to rise due to increased urbanization and coastal development. FLOOD DEFINITION The inundation of a normally dry area caused by high flow, or overflow of water in an established watercourse, such as a river, stream, or drainage ditch ; or ponding of water at or near the point where the rain fell. This is a duration type event with a slower onset than flash flooding, normally greater than 6 hours. VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDFS Flood Hazards - A National Threat  (2.35 mb) Natural Hazards - A National Threat  (2.85 mb) PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA FLOODS (1936) U.S. FLOOD MAP Presidential disaster declarations related to flooding in the United States, shown by county: Green areas represent one declaration; yellow areas represent two declarations; orange areas represent three declarations; red areas represent four or more declarations between June 1, 1965, and June 1, 2003. Map not to scale. Sources: FEMA, Michael Baker Jr., Inc., the National Atlas, and the USGS DOWNLOAD IMAGES Low-Resolution    High-Resolution Data Source: U.S. Geological Survey