What are floods?

Floods happen when water from rivers, lakes, or even rain goes over the land and covers houses, roads, and yards like a big puddle.

Imagine you're filling up a bath tub with water. If you turn on the tap too fast, the water can spill out of the tub and go all over the floor. That’s kind of what happens during a flood, but instead of a bath tub, it's a river or a lake.

When there are too many rains in a short time, the ground gets wet, and the water can't go down fast enough. This makes the water level rise until it spills out onto streets and into homes, just like when you pour too much water into a glass, and it goes over the rim.