Flooding and Low Water on River

The river floods because of rain. There are two rainy seasons, January and July. The rainfall ranges from fifty to one hundred seventy five inches of rain each year. This translates to more than two hundred fifty centimeters of rain each year. The rain on the Amazon basin is different in each area. Some areas receive rain daily, and others receive it rarely but in drenching monsoons. Monsoons occur during the wet winter season, and can dump several inches of rain per hour. In addition to too much water on the river, low water is also dangerous. It increases the probability of striking submerged rocks and tree stumps. The Amazon floodplain is flooded half of the year, and is only moist the other half. Floodwaters recede in late summer. The flooding begins from late November to early December. Over the next few months the floodplain is hit by a deluge of water. This overwhelms the plateaus and meadows. Some floods are extreme while others are minimal. Minimal floods are only one to two feet of water, so water only covers the low ground. During extreme flooding water reaches depths of fifty feet and after the land remains flooded for most of the remainder of the year. This forces animals and people to move to higher ground. It sometimes prevents animals from returning to their homes. This is a picture of the Amazon River.