Driving through a flash-flooded road

A flash flood after a thunderstorm in the Gobi, Mongolia

A flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas—washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a storm, hurricane, or tropical storm or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields. Flash floods may occur after the collapse of a natural ice or debris dam, or a human structure such as a man-made dam, as occurred before the Johnstown Flood of 1889. Flash floods are distinguished from a regular flood by a timescale less than six hours. The temporary availability of water is often utilized by foliage with rapid germination and short growth cycle, and by specially adapted animal life.^[1]

Causes[link]

Flash flooding occurs when precipitation falls too quickly on saturated soil or dry soil that has poor absorption ability. The runoff collects in low-lying areas and rapidly flows downhill. Flash floods most often occur in normally dry areas that have recently received precipitation, but may be seen anywhere downstream from the source of the precipitation, even many miles from the source. In areas on or near volcanoes, flash floods have also occurred after eruptions, when glaciers have been melted by the intense heat. Flash floods are known to occur in the highest mountain ranges of the United States and are also common in the arid plains of southwestern United States. Flash flooding can also be caused by extensive rainfall released by hurricanes and other tropical storms, as well as the sudden thawing effect of ice dams.^[2][3] Human activities can also cause flash floods to occur. When dams, constructed for hydro-electricity, have failed, large quantities of water can be released and can destroy everything within its path.^[3]

Hazards[link]

The United States National Weather Service gives the advice "Turn Around, Don't Drown" for flash floods; that is, it recommends that people get out of the area of a flash flood, rather than trying to cross it. Many people tend to underestimate the dangers of flash floods. What makes flash floods most dangerous is their sudden nature and fast moving water. A vehicle provides little to no protection against being swept away; it may make people overconfident and less likely to avoid the flash flood. More than half of the fatalities attributed to flash floods are people swept away in vehicles when trying to cross flooded intersections.^[4] As little as 2 feet (0.61 m) of water is enough to carry away most SUV-sized vehicles.^[5] The U.S. National Weather Service reported in 2005 that, using a national 30-year average, more people die yearly in floods, 127 on average, than by lightning (73), tornadoes (65), or hurricanes (16).^[6]

In deserts, flash floods can be particularly deadly for several reasons. First, storms in arid regions are infrequent, but they can deliver an enormous amount of water in a very short time. Second, these rains often fall on poorly-absorbent and often clay-like soil, which greatly increase the amount of runoff that rivers and other water channels have to handle. These regions tend not to have the infrastructure that wetter regions have to divert water from structures and roads, such as storm drains, culverts, and retention basins, either because of sparse population, poverty, or because residents believe the risk by flash floods is not high enough to justify the expense. In fact, in some areas, desert roads frequently cross dry river and creek beds without bridges. From the driver's perspective, there may be clear weather, when unexpectedly a river forms ahead of or around the vehicle in a matter of seconds.^[7] Finally, the lack of regular rain to clear water channels may cause flash floods in deserts to be headed by large amounts of debris, such as rocks, branches, and logs.

Deep slot canyons can be especially dangerous to hikers as they may be flooded by a storm that occurs on a mesa miles away, sweeps through the canyon, and makes it difficult to climb up and out of the way to avoid the flood.

Significant flash floods[link]

• 1889: Johnstown Flood, more than 2,200 people dead
• 1903: Heppner Flood of 1903; Oregon, United States: 247 dead, 25% of the city
• 1938: Los Angeles Flood of 1938, California, U.S.: 115 dead
• 1952: Lynmouth disaster, England: 34 dead
• 1967: Flash flood in Lisbon, Portugal: 464 dead
• 1971: Kuala Lumpur floods, Malaysia: 32 dead
• 1972: The Black Hills flood, South Dakota, U.S.: 238 dead
• 1976: The Big Thompson River flood, which killed 143 people in Colorado, U.S.
• 2007: Sudan floods
• 2009: September 26 in Metro Manila primarily Marikina city, Taguig City, and Pasig City; and many municipalities of the provinces of Rizal, Bulacan and Laguna taking more than a hundred lives and leaving thousands of affected residents homeless. It also submerged several municipalities under feet deep of water for several weeks.
• 2011: Philippines, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City, 17 December 2011. At least 1200 people killed as reported by Red Cross.See also Tropical Storm Washi

See also[link]

• Coastal flood
• Freshet
• Huayco
• Flash flood watch
• Flash flood warning

Further reading[link]

• Schmittner, Karl-Erich; Pierre Giresse (August 1996). "Modelling and application of the geomorphic and environmental controls on flash flood flow". Geomorphology 16 (4): 337–47. Bibcode 1996Geomo..16..337S. DOI:10.1016/0169-555X(96)00002-5. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: floods

• Scottish Flash Flood Public clip of the Fochabers flood in Moray September 9
• Decision tree to choose an uncertainty method for hydrological and hydraulic modelling, choosing an uncertainty analysis for flood modelling.
• Flash Flood Alley movie and video clips.
• Flash Flood Safety information.
• Great footage of flash floods in the arid midwest heading down dry washes after heavy rain.
• Map of central Texas flash flood alley.
• Workshop Proceedings Flash Flood Management
• Workshop Proceedings Flash Flood Forecasting

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David Rankin is a New York-based Australian artist. He works predominantly in oil and acrylic on canvas, but also works with paper, prints, sculptures and ceramics. Rankin has held over 100 one-person exhibitions in cities across the world and his work forms part of many of the world's leading collections and museums. (see bio from Andre Zarre gallery site http://www.andrezarre.com/images/DAVID_RANKIN/DAVID_RANKIN_CV.pdf)

Life[link]

David Rankin was born in Plymouth, Devon, England in 1946 then emigrated to Australia with his family in 1948. He spent his childhood in the 1950s in the semi-rural Port Hacking region South of Sydney and his teenage years in country New South Wales, from Hay, Wagga Wagga and Albury in the South to Bourke and Brewarrina in the North.

Rankin is self-taught, developing his techniques and ideas in the outback towns of his youth. He was inspired by the greats from Leonardo da Vinci to Paul Klee as well as being influenced by the history of Buddhism and Asian art.

In his travels before he arrived in Sydney in 1967 he developed a concept of what he wanted to achieve as an Australian artist. His dream was to express the anima, the life spirit or the essence of God in all nature. As an Australian artist he believed could bring the elements of Western Art together with an understanding and love for the cultures of Asia and the Australian Aborigine. He also felt that as Australia was closer to Asia than Europe it made sense to think about the art of Indian, Chinese and Japanese artists, and that one could not be an authentic articulate Australian artist without a love and respect for the artistic and spiritual expressions of the various Aboriginal peoples and cultures.

In Sydney Rankin had his first exhibition through Watters gallery at age 22.

Lily Brett[link]

In 1979 his first wife died leaving him with a young child. In the same year he subsequently met his second and current wife Lily Brett, whose own life was etched by tragedy with her parent survivors of the Holocaust. She too migrated to Australia as a child after the Second World War in 1948. The artist recounts that his empathy for Lily and the pity for his first wife’s death fused into what he calls “the dark blessing of my life.” The darkness was transformed into images. The author Dore Ashton writes that the events of 1979 and the fire which ravished his studio in 1997 and burnt his art works and many personal possessions, had a profound impact on his work. From 1997 he became more interested in mortality and the works after the fire were called ‘existentialist.’^[who?]

Having personal life experiences as his subject matter, Rankin's paintings contemplate these things. For example, his Jerusalem series followed a trip to Jerusalem in 1988, which then led to his Golgotha works. His travels to the Australian, American and Mexican deserts became the subject matter for many of his canvases, such as Ridge – Mungo, Golden Prophecy – San Antonio, Grey Sonora Landscape and then led to his Witness Series. From the fire in his studio he then painted Buddha and Flames. He illustrated two books by Lily Brett on the holocaust and explored the theme further in his huge work The Drowned and The Saved from a book by Primo Levi of the same name. Through Brett he encountered Jewish mythology and painted Black Menorah and Black Tfiln and as a testament to his love for her created his Husband and Wife Series including Husband and Wife Triptych III, and Husband and Wife – Ying and Yang.^{[citation needed]}

In the past 30 years Rankin has held over 100 one-person exhibitions in cities as diverse as Paris, Beijing, New York and throughout Australia. He is represented in many of the world's leading collections and museums. He was selected as Australia's official representative in the UNESCO Fortieth Anniversary Exhibition celebrations that toured the world's capitals. He was featured in the Salon de Mai in Paris and the Chicago Art Fair. Among the many prizes and awards he has been honored with is the 1983 Wynne Prize, Australia's premier landscape prize. Recently an English-German monograph on his work titled "The Walls of the Heart: The Work and Life of David Rankin" was published by US critic and art historian Dore Ashton. In 2005-2006 a major exhibition of Rankin’s art, curated by Dore Ashton, toured through public galleries in Australia.

Personal life[link]

In 1989 Rankin moved with his wife, poet, essayist and novelist, Lily Brett to live in New York. From their home in New York they continue to explore both their Australian roots and culture and the opportunities and challenges of being part of an international community. Their three children, including celebrated artist Jessica Rankin, also live in New York.

Commissioned work[link]

Among his commissioned works are The Scorched Earth, 1984–85, oil on canvas, diptych at the Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne. The Committee for Bosnia, commissioned a poster, A Day for Bosnia, at the The University of Chicago. His oil paintings, large watercolours and ceramics appear at the New York Vista Hotel.

See also[link]

• List of Australian artists
• Jessica Rankin - artist, David Rankin's daughter.

References[link]

• Bio from Andre Zarre gallery site http://www.andrezarrefineart.com/html/DavidRankin_bio.html
• essay accompanying show "David Rankin Work 1967-2004" by Madeleine Kelman Snow
• biography Rezarr gallery site.

Bibliography[link]

• Brenson, Michael: “David Rankin”, The New York Times, New York City, December 21, 1990; p39
• Carrier, David: “David Rankin’s Jerusalem Paintings”, in the catalogue for David Rankin, The Jerusalem Paintings, Ruggiero Gallery, New York City, 1989
• Handy, Ellen: “Light of Australia, Walls of Jerusalem”, Arts Magazine, New York City. December 1989 [Vol. 64, No. 4]; pages 51–55
• Larson, Kay: “Art”, New York Magazine, New York City, December 17, 1990; p77
• Elwyn Lynn: “Rankin at Macquarie”, The Australian, Sydney; November 1990
• Lynn, Victoria: “Balance and Duality in the Work of David Rankin”, Art and Australia, Summer 1996
• Sheffield, Margaret: “David Rankin”, Review, New York City, May 1997
• Bleiker, Roland: “Political Abstraction in the Work of David Rankin”, Social Alternatives, St Lucia. October 2001 [Vol. 20, No. 4]; pages 3–8, 16-21.
• Dore Ashton: The Walls of the Heart: The Work and Life of David Rankin, Wien: Christian Brandstätter Verlag, 2001.
• Dore Ashton: “After the Fire”, David Rankin: Works 1967-2004, touring exhibition catalogue, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah 2005.
• Jeannet, Frédéric-Yves: “From the Heartland to a Hinterland”, David Rankin: Works 1967-2004, touring exhibition catalogue, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah 2005.
• Dore Ashton: David Rankin – The Crossings Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York City, October 2006.

New York Arts International (http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=287210:passage-and-crossings&catid=182:noted&Itemid=752)

External links[link]

• Margaret Sheffield Essay on David Rankin's Prophesy of Dried Bones series
• Savah Gallery - resume supplied by the artist reproduced on this page as well as in this Wikipedia entry
• Essay by Dore Ashton
• List of some Australian Galleries mentioned
• Note on exhibition at Judisches Museum Wien