Bostcastle Flood Case Study Flashcards
What did the rain start?
12:15pm
Where is Bostcastle?
Small town in Northwest Cornwall, west of England
What is a flash flood?
A sudden local flood, typically due to heavy rain
Give some short term flood effects
Boats got lost, 75 cars and 6 buildings were washed into the sea and 150 people had to cling on top of trees and roofs to avoid being washed away
Give some long term effects of the flood
Tourism and fishing was reduced
What % of Bostacastle’s economy is tourism and what fraction of this is gained on school holidays?
90% 2/3
What happened at 15.30?
Banks of river Valency break
What happens at 16.00?
A 3meter wall of water runs through Bostcastle car parking at 40mph
What happened at 17.00 and when did it end?
Rescue helicopters saved the 150 people clinging to trees and buildings up to 02.30.
Give ways Bostcastle reduced the risk of future floods
£4.5 million spent, car parks were raised in height, some buildings were rebuilt, river was widened and deepened
What river caused the food?
River Valency
Give some natural reasons as to why the flood happened
89mm of rain fell in just 1 hour, ground was saturated, the rivers channels were narrow so a flash flood was unpredictable.
Give human reasons why the flood happened
Narrow bridges limited channel flow and location on a narrow floodplain was a bad choice of settlement
