Final answer:
A sudden rush of water caused by heavy rain in a short amount of time is known as a flash flood. These can occur very quickly and are capable of causing significant damage to the environment and infrastructure, and pose a serious threat to life.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sudden rush of water caused by heavy rain in a short amount of time is commonly known as a flash flood. Flash floods can occur with little to no warning, swiftly turning dry areas into dangerous streams. This can happen in a matter of minutes or hours, following the intense precipitation, when natural watercourses are overwhelmed by a volume of water they cannot contain. The power and rapidity of flash floods can tear down trees, erode foundations, and cause significant infrastructure damage and loss of life.
An example of this is when a river, swollen and flecked with foam due to heavy up-country rains, becomes so engorged that it may overwhelm local defenses. This results in the river water breaching banks and spreading across the surrounding land in powerful overwash. The historical record is replete with incidents like these, where lives, crops, and villages were damaged or even destroyed by the overwhelming force of water.