The final part of this book is devoted to the last part of the cycle of important fluid-dynamical processes which constitutes monsoon dynamics. The analysis of these concluding processes gains interest primarily from the hope that it can lead to practical methods for producing adequate and reliable advance warning of flooding dangers.

First, we have two chapters by leading experts on the prediction of marine flooding associated with storm surges. The numerical modelling involved allows for the combined input from atmospheric processes and astronomical tide-raising forces, together with a comprehensive treatment of depth-distribution effects and boundary conditions. These chapters describe both the successful present use of these techniques in connection with flood prediction for the British Isles, and their potential for application in the Bay of Bengal to forecast flooding surges resulting from monsoon wind stresses acting upon the shallow water at the mouth of the Ganges delta.

Although in these chapters the storm-surge experts concentrate on flooding dangers associated with monsoons, they were, of course, consulted during their stay in Delhi on the implications of the tragic events of the month (November, 1977) immediately preceding the Symposium upon which this book is based. Flooding of great severity was produced by a tropical cyclone in the state of Tamil Nadu. This was followed, within a few days, by a still more devastating, and indeed unprecedented, degree of flooding in Andhra Pradesh caused by another cyclone.