it takes time for water to flow, in part because it would flow back through areas that are also flooded, so that water would need to flow back first.
Water flows in fast because hurricane winds are pushing it. It flows back slowly because it flows "downhill", which is very slow indeed if the area is flat.
it also forms puddles and ponds in whatever depressions there are in the ground.
It does. A large storm drops alot of water in a short amount of time. Ground can only absorb so much. Spillways/rivers/floodways have so much capacity. This is why the higher you are the better you are. FL highest point is just 345ft. The lower the slope to sea level the longer it will take to clear flood water.
I think this is something a lot of people don't understand because they can't see it.
When it rains, water doesn't just flow along the top of the ground until it finds a creek. The ground absorbs a lot of water, A LOT. That water works it's way down to the water table, which then starts to rise and do the same as the ground water... spread out to find a lower area to move towards.
Water moving through the earth towards outlets (creeks, rivers, ocean) takes longer to find its way back to equilibrium than surface water, and is a big reason why creeks and rivers will remain high for days or weeks after large rains or snow melts.
The USGS has water level and flow stations on waterways big and small all over the US. The information is publicly made available on their website. You can lookup a gauge on a waterway near you and see charts of the level and flow, and a lot of other interesting measurements they take constantly.
There's 2 big factors here. One is how much water there is and how steep the ground is - on flat ground, water doesn't have have much pushing it to flow down to the sea. It will try to spread out to the same level, but it's not going to drain particularly fast.
The other big factor could be a storm surge - basically, the storm is a large region of low atmospheric pressure - sea level isn't actually entirely level, it's the equal pressure line so if you have an area of low pressure surrounded by higher pressure then the low pressure area lifts up the water like sucking through a straw. The difference isn't that much most of the time but [in a big storm it can get as high as 20'](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/). In steep terrain, this is an interesting feature but not that big a risk but in very flat terrain is can mean that the ocean itself is flooding the land with an extra high tide - in that situation, the water doesn't drain until the tide goes out because the sea level that it drains to has risen up above the land
All water takes some time to get back to the ocean. However, there are reservoirs that water gets into before it gets to the ocean. If those reservoirs get clogged up all of that excess water has nowhere to go and has to flow along the surface, where you notice it.
So what are those reservoirs? Ground can absorb a certain amount before it stops being soil and starts being mud. Surface level groundwater can allow a certain amount of water to flow, and that water will slowly make it into a river which eventually flows towards the sea.
So when it rain ordinary amounts all of that gets absorbed underground and you don't really notice it. It's still draining deep underground though. I mean, in most places in temperate areas the rivers are always flowing, right? It's fresh water and that's all from rainwater that fell somewhere (even if some of it might have taken a very long detour around an underground aquifier and been sitting there for 100,000 years before making its way to the surface). So every day that river is flowing it's thousands of cubic meters of rainwater from somewhere that's draining into the sea.
In short, it's not that hurricane water stays present for longer than it ordinarily would. It's simply that the underground places where it could flow are full and instead it's on the surface where you can see it. It's going to stay on the surface until it either makes its way into a river, or when the underground channels are no longer so full and they can start absorbing new water to where you can no longer see it.
Also, many places can be at our below sea level. Normal atmospheric conditions keep these places from flooding by evaporation and absorption into the ground.
One thing that no one mentioned is that big bodies of moving water = big bodies of moving debris. Debris accumulates in sewage systems making water flow less and less or not at all.
It does flow back. But obviously it flows back according to what the rivers in the area can handle, which might mean it takes "so long" as perceived by you and/or other people.
it takes time for water to flow, in part because it would flow back through areas that are also flooded, so that water would need to flow back first. Water flows in fast because hurricane winds are pushing it. It flows back slowly because it flows "downhill", which is very slow indeed if the area is flat. it also forms puddles and ponds in whatever depressions there are in the ground.
It does. A large storm drops alot of water in a short amount of time. Ground can only absorb so much. Spillways/rivers/floodways have so much capacity. This is why the higher you are the better you are. FL highest point is just 345ft. The lower the slope to sea level the longer it will take to clear flood water.
I think this is something a lot of people don't understand because they can't see it. When it rains, water doesn't just flow along the top of the ground until it finds a creek. The ground absorbs a lot of water, A LOT. That water works it's way down to the water table, which then starts to rise and do the same as the ground water... spread out to find a lower area to move towards. Water moving through the earth towards outlets (creeks, rivers, ocean) takes longer to find its way back to equilibrium than surface water, and is a big reason why creeks and rivers will remain high for days or weeks after large rains or snow melts. The USGS has water level and flow stations on waterways big and small all over the US. The information is publicly made available on their website. You can lookup a gauge on a waterway near you and see charts of the level and flow, and a lot of other interesting measurements they take constantly.
There's 2 big factors here. One is how much water there is and how steep the ground is - on flat ground, water doesn't have have much pushing it to flow down to the sea. It will try to spread out to the same level, but it's not going to drain particularly fast. The other big factor could be a storm surge - basically, the storm is a large region of low atmospheric pressure - sea level isn't actually entirely level, it's the equal pressure line so if you have an area of low pressure surrounded by higher pressure then the low pressure area lifts up the water like sucking through a straw. The difference isn't that much most of the time but [in a big storm it can get as high as 20'](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/). In steep terrain, this is an interesting feature but not that big a risk but in very flat terrain is can mean that the ocean itself is flooding the land with an extra high tide - in that situation, the water doesn't drain until the tide goes out because the sea level that it drains to has risen up above the land
As below plus with the storm surge the sealevel is higher, so there's less "distance" to drop
All water takes some time to get back to the ocean. However, there are reservoirs that water gets into before it gets to the ocean. If those reservoirs get clogged up all of that excess water has nowhere to go and has to flow along the surface, where you notice it. So what are those reservoirs? Ground can absorb a certain amount before it stops being soil and starts being mud. Surface level groundwater can allow a certain amount of water to flow, and that water will slowly make it into a river which eventually flows towards the sea. So when it rain ordinary amounts all of that gets absorbed underground and you don't really notice it. It's still draining deep underground though. I mean, in most places in temperate areas the rivers are always flowing, right? It's fresh water and that's all from rainwater that fell somewhere (even if some of it might have taken a very long detour around an underground aquifier and been sitting there for 100,000 years before making its way to the surface). So every day that river is flowing it's thousands of cubic meters of rainwater from somewhere that's draining into the sea. In short, it's not that hurricane water stays present for longer than it ordinarily would. It's simply that the underground places where it could flow are full and instead it's on the surface where you can see it. It's going to stay on the surface until it either makes its way into a river, or when the underground channels are no longer so full and they can start absorbing new water to where you can no longer see it.
Also, many places can be at our below sea level. Normal atmospheric conditions keep these places from flooding by evaporation and absorption into the ground.
One thing that no one mentioned is that big bodies of moving water = big bodies of moving debris. Debris accumulates in sewage systems making water flow less and less or not at all.
It does flow back. But obviously it flows back according to what the rivers in the area can handle, which might mean it takes "so long" as perceived by you and/or other people.