Attempts to understand and manage the mechanisms at work in floodplains have been made for at least six millennia.In the United States, the Association of State Floodplain Managers works to promote education, policies, and activities that mitigate current and future losses, costs, and human suffering caused by flooding and to protect the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains – all without causing adverse impacts. A portfolio of best practice examples for disaster mitigation in the United States is available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Control
In many countries around the world, waterways prone to floods are often carefully managed. Defenses such as detention basins, levees, bunds, reservoirs, and weirs are used to prevent waterways from overflowing their banks. When these defenses fail, emergency measures such as sandbags or portable inflatable tubes are often used to try to stem flooding. Coastal flooding has been addressed in portions of Europe and the Americas with coastal defenses, such as sea walls, beach nourishment, and barrier islands. In the riparian zone near rivers and streams, erosion control measures can be taken to try to slow down or reverse the natural forces that cause many waterways to meander over long periods of time. Flood controls, such as dams, can be built and maintained over time to try to reduce the occurrence and severity of floods as well. In the United States, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains a network of such flood control dams.
Users can zoom in to see inundation maps (areas estimated to be covered with water) in 1-kilometer resolution. Society and culture
Myths and religion
Legends of great, civilization-destroying floods are widespread in many cultures. Flood events in the form of divine retribution have also been described in religious texts. The Genesis flood narrative plays a prominent role in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Etymology
The word "flood" comes from the Old English flōd, a word common to Germanic languages (compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float; also compare with Latin fluctus, flumen), meaning "a flowing of water, tide, an overflowing of land by water, a deluge, Noahs Flood; mass of water, river, sea, wave,". The Old English word flōd comes from the Proto-Germanic floduz (Old Frisian flod, Old Norse floð, Middle Dutch vloet, Dutch vloed, German Flut, and  Gothic flodus derives from floduz). See also
References
Sources
Douville, Hervé; Raghavan, Krishnan; Renwick, James A.; Allan, Richard P.;  et al. (2021). "Chapter 8: Water cycle changes" (PDF). IPCC AR6 WG1 2021. IPCC (2021). Masson-Delmotte, V.; Zhai, P.; Pirani, A.; Connors, S. L.;  et al. (eds.). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (PDF). Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press (In Press). External links

Associated Programme on Flood Management from the World Meteorological Organization
Flood and natural hazard research from Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC
International Flood Initiative from UNESCO