In August 2013, a massive flood occurred, which affected 98 thousand residents of the Russian Far East. Amur came out of its banks - the largest river of these places. Scientists called the flood the largest in the last hundred years. The river flooded the territories located thirty kilometers from its usual channel.
The magnitude of the tragedy made many people wonder why Cupid is being poured, and is it possible to somehow prevent the disastrous consequences of the flood.
Bit of theory
Rivers that are located in climatic zones with sharply expressed seasons of the year or originate high in the mountains, among glaciers, always have high water and low water. In nature, there is eternal water exchange. Moisture, evaporating from the oceans, turns into clouds that carry precipitation. Rain falling on the ground penetrates the groundwater and saturates the rivers, which, in turn, carry their waves into the sea. So before you figure out why Cupid is being poured, you need to understand what he eats.
River specifics
We are used to the fact that the floods of the rivers of Russia fall in the spring, since the vast majority of them have snow nutrition. When it becomes warm, meltwater overflows the Volga, Oka, Dnieper and similar blue arteries. Low water (the shallowest water level) occurs in them in the summer and the first half of autumn, when there is little rainfall. But Cupid is not such a typical river. It flows in the monsoon climate zone, characterized by the fact that in the summer there are east winds blowing from the Pacific Ocean.
It is in climatic features that one should look for the answer to the question of why Cupid is being poured.
Winters in this region are severe, but not very snowy. Somewhere in November, in the Amur basin, as well as on its tributaries - Zeya, Bureya, Ussuri and Sungari - freeze-up begins, which opens only in early May. For almost six months, these rivers receive only underground nutrition - from groundwater and springs. Due to the snowy winters, spring floods on local rivers are not observed.
But when summer monsoons begin to blow, bringing down showers and typhoons from the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan , the water level in the Amur and its tributaries rises sharply, because the food at these rivers is mainly rainwater.
Can disaster be prevented
If the flood in the Amur River takes place every summer, then why exactly August 2013 is inscribed in the history of Russia as a black date? There is also such a geographical concept as flood. It comes from a riot of elements and has a sudden, very sharp character. The flood occurs due to heavy and prolonged downpours (for example, when the monthly rainfall falls in 1-2 days) or due to the sharp melting of snow in the mountains. And in 2013, a typhoon was added to the action of the wet summer monsoon. An important factor was that the storm on the Sea of Okhotsk drove back into the mainland river water from a shallow estuary. Oil was added to the fire and the breakthrough of the dam. Thus, it is not enough to know why Cupid is being poured, you also need to realize that August-September is a time of typhoons.
Is it possible to solve the problem? Yes, as the experience of many countries shows. The same Chinese, whose resettlement territory runs along the other side of the Amur, are investing a lot of money to strengthen it from erosion. In Europe, a cascade of reservoirs is established in the upper reaches of rivers and tributaries. This saving chain makes it possible to accumulate excess water, so that later it gradually descends during the low water period. We need to adopt this experience, and not be content with the fact that the level of Cupid for today is within normal limits.