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
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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