To locate information on your topic, you must keep in mind the two research needs: 1) How to find information about the causes and effects of flooding and 2) How to locate regional information related to this topic. (As always, read your assignment instructions to make sure you have the kinds of sources asked for before selecting sources.) First, let's start with identifying potential resources to explore. Due to the specific nature of the topic as related to a regional lens, local sources such as newspapers and magazines will be helpful. The Virginian Pilot is a resource for localized flooding information. You may want to look at environmental organizations like the Chesapeake Bay Program to learn other related issues such as waste water runoff, stormwater, overpopulation etc. However, the detail of information needed to address causes and effects will include sources of peer-reviewed/scholarly information. The Articles tab on the Environmental Science Guide is a good place to start. (Academic Search Complete and Environment Complete are just two resources to try). Next, you will need to think of keywords to search for your topic. So, thinking about causes and effects of flooding, you may try terms such as:
sea level AND flooding
flooding AND impact
coastal flooding AND sustainable communities
floods AND risk assessment
flooding AND Hampton Roads
flooding AND climate change
flooding AND damage
floods AND Norfolk
These are just some suggested searches, there are many others you will want to try. If you are allowed to use AI to brainstorm topics/search terms for databases, try a prompt of "Issues related to flooding" or "causes of flooding".
You also have access to books, ebook and videos though the library homepage. Also, check with the local City government official sites to see about stormwater projects ect. as this is a related issue. For example, here is Virginia Beach's page on Stormwater and Flood Protection and Hampton's Stormwater page.