Flooding is disastrous no matter where it hits.
In some parts of the developing world, flooding and its after effects can cost countless lives and leave thousands destitute.
And even in the West, when flood waters rise it can be calamitous.
And the after effects of flooding can be just as bad as the flood waters themselves.
Drought, famine, disease and homelessness can all be brought on by flood waters; but there are also hidden effects caused by flooding, and more importantly by our efforts to combat floods.
It is fairly common knowledge that an increase in the global temperature brought about by climate change and the greenhouse effect, brings with it an increase in the likelihood of flooding.
In the UK, flooding has increased dramatically in recent years with some areas suffering from the effects of flooding for the first time in living memory.
And while there are some grand engineering schemes to prevent flooding; the majority of flood defenses that are relied upon to curb rising flood waters are ancient methods, used for years.
Traditional sandbags are still commonly used to halt flood waters and defend properties from floods - but the effects of using traditional sandbags to defend from flooding could actually be making the problem worse in the long run.
Sandbags, quite obviously require sand.
But using sand for traditional sandbags has many effects on the environment.
Firstly, traditional sandbags are time consuming to fill and require large quantities of sand.
For this reason, and because flooding is never easily predicted, sandbags are often filled in advance, this means they have to transported full.
A typical sandbag, when full, weighs several kilos and transporting them during times of flooding produces large amounts of CO2, especially with van loads of sandbags being transported to flood waters during the wet months.
Secondly, sand is a virgin resource.
There may be plenty of it around but it isn't just sitting around doing nothing.
When floods hit the UK, vast amounts of sand are required to fill sandbags and most of it is dredged from the Bristol Channel.
This can alter the flow of the river causing untold effects on the local environment and water table.
And if that wasn't bad enough, this dredged virgin resource is then just dumped on to landfill once it has been used.
Instant Sandbags do away with all that transporting of sand.
They can be stored and transported empty and flat; then inflated - with just water - within minutes.
Yet they act and weigh the same as traditional sandbags when full and yet when the flood waters subside the water can naturally be drained from the instant sandbag doing away with all that dumping of soiled sand.