Flood stage is the level at which a body of water's surface has risen to a sufficient level to cause sufficient inundation of areas that are not normally covered by water, causing an inconvenience or a threat to life and/or property. When a body of water rises to this level, it is considered a flood event. Flood stage does not apply to areal flooding. Because areal flooding occurs, by definition, over areas not normally covered by water, any water at all creates a flood. Usually, Moderate and Major stages are not defined for areal floodplains.