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<br /> <br />Building code-The regulations adopted by a local governing <br />body setting forth standards for the construction, addition, <br />modification, and repair of buildings and other structures <br />for the purpose of protecting the health, safety, and general <br />welfare of the public. <br /> <br />Design flood-Commonly used to mean the magnitude of <br />flooding used for design and operation of flood control <br />structures or other protective measures. It is sometimes <br />used to denote the magnitude of flooding used in flood <br />plain regulations. <br /> <br />Discharge or streamflows-A measurement of water quantity in <br />relation to time, usually expressed in cubic feet per second <br />(cfs). <br /> <br />Flash flood-A flood that reaches its peak flow in a short length <br />of time (hours or minutes) after the storm or other event <br />causing it. Often characterized by high-velocity flows. <br /> <br />Flood-An overflow of lands that are not normally covered by <br />water and that are used or usable by man. Floods have two <br />essential characteristics: the inundation of land is <br />temporary; the land is adjacent to and inundated by <br />overflow from a river or stream or an ocean, lake, or other <br />body of standing water. <br /> <br />Normally a flood is considered as any temporary rise in <br />streamflow or stage, but not the ponding of surface water, <br />that results in significant adverse effects in the vicinity. <br />Adverse effects may include damages from overflow of land <br />areas, temporary backwater effects in sewers and local <br />drainage channels, creation of unsanitary conditions or <br />other unfavorable situations by deposition of materials in <br />stream channels during flood recessions, rise of ground <br />water coincident with increased streamflow, and other <br />problems. <br /> <br />Flood crest-The maximum stage or elevation reached by the <br />waters of a flood at a given location. <br /> <br />Flood duration-The length of time a stream is above flood <br />stage or overflowing its banks. <br /> <br />Flood fighting-Actions taken immediately before or during a <br />flood to protect human life and reduce flood damages, such <br />as evacuation, emergency sandbagging and diking, and <br />assistance to flood victims. <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br />Glossary <br /> <br />