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Boscastle Case Study

Page history last edited by Claire 13 years, 10 months ago

Boscastle Flooding - 4pm Monday 16th August 2004


 

 

Location


Boscastle is a small rural village which is a popular tourist destination located on the North Cornwall Coast, in the South West of England. It is approximately 80 miles away from Plymouth, the nearest large area. There is a confluence within the village between Valency and Jordan. These rivers source from the Hills of Bodmin Moor.

 

 

Causes


Physical causes

  • There was stormy weather in the days prior to the flood, meaning that the ground was already heavily saturated. This meant during the next period of  rain, water ran straight into the river as surface run-off, reducing the lag time.
  • The rain was particularly heavy in the hours before the flood; there was 75mm of rain in just 2 hours.
  • There were two rivers in the river valley, the Jordan, and the Valency. The Jordan runs into the Valency, and so they both overflowed. This meant that there was a sudden rush of water, through the valley.

    The rock in the valley is mostly granite, which is impermeable so water cannot infiltrate and so is transported to the river via. surface run-off.

     

    Human causes

    • Boscastle was built on a flood plain, meaning the area is more likely to flood.
    • There were several bridges along the river. This meant that when debris was swept up by the river, it got trapped by the bridge and slowed the river's velocity.

     

     

    Effects


    Physical

    • trees uprooted and washed downstream
    • soil erosion
    • 20 tonnes of soil moved and deposited

     

    Built

    • damage to infrastructure - some roads were completely impassable
    • 58 properties destroyed
    • 84 cars wrecked
    • 4 footbridges washed away and major structural damage to road bridge
    • 3 shops were destroyed
    • car parks washed away
    • Sewers burst

     

    Human

    • 60 people evacuated
    • insurance companies had to pay out thousands for the damage
    • "Witchcraft Museum" was destroyed and led to loss of tourism

     

     

    Management Strategies


     

    Immediate responses

    • Helicoptors from RAF and Navy
    • Buildings searched
    • Trees removed
    • Roads cleared
    • Sandabags put in place

     

    Long Term Responses

    • £4.5 million flood defence scheme
    • drainage sytems improved
    • channels widened and deepened
    • banks of river reinforced

     

     

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