Forecasters still aren't sure exactly where this slowly wandering storm will go but they say flooding, especially in costal South Carolina's low country could be devastating.
For example, because of the threat of a storm surge, a rise in seawater levels pushed ashore by a tropical system, flooding was a threat to millions, especially in low-lying areas.
We are lucky in that only the lower fields, which make up a very small proportion of our farm, are affected by flooding, but other farms are less favourably sited, and flooding can sometimes speall disaster for their owners.
Generally, the regions most vulnerable to this type of flooding are the low-lying ones without the historic wetlands and floodplains that would have absorbed the water.
Places like the low-lying areas of the West Kenya, the Homa Bay, the countries that are around the lake region, the back flow of Lake Victoria which is really now very full.
In the centuries since, low-lying places like the Netherlands have developed an impressive array of water-defense systems, including Wierden, dikes, ditches, dams, locks, and picturesque water pumps.
Flood control measures along the Mississippi River stopped the natural process that left materials from the river in the delta – the low-lying land next to the river.
Storms that pass over mountainous area have tendencies to break apart, which means Ian is likely to stay intact as it passes over low-lying parts of the island country.
He’s referring to the great flood of Paris in which water levels rose more than eight meters causing thousands of Parisians to flee the low-lying areas of the city.