I saw these sentences in Economist magazine --
More than 100 people died in floods in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. The flooding, which washed away roads, bridges and houses, has also affected several other states as well as India's capital, Delhi.
I want to clarify why author has used "flooding" (a gerund noun) rather than more popular noun "flood". Is such use to emphasize that flood or its effect is still going on ? But I seem to be wrong as I have seen other uses of flooding for past events too --
More than 100 people died in floods in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. The flooding, which washed away roads, bridges and houses, has also affected several other states as well as India's capital, Delhi.
I want to clarify why author has used "flooding" (a gerund noun) rather than more popular noun "flood". Is such use to emphasize that flood or its effect is still going on ? But I seem to be wrong as I have seen other uses of flooding for past events too --
Flooding also temporarily closed part of Route 50 west of Royal Gorge Bridge and Park.
New York Times Aug 11, 2013
The next year Thailand witnessed its worst flooding in half-a-century, inundating 90 billion square kilometers of land.
Time Aug 9, 2013
A spokesman said despite the flooding, paediatric emergency and elective in-patient services remained unaffected.
BBC Aug 6, 2013
