Causes And Impacts Of Flooding CASE STUDY Flashcards
Background information about Cumbria
November 2009
Flooding lasted just over a week
Many areas within Cumbria were flooded, total land area of Cumbria is about 6000km2
GNP per Capita = $37,360
Background information about Pakistan
July/August 2010
Flooding lasted about 3 weeks
At one point 69,000 km2 of fertile crop land was submerged by floods
GNP per Capita = $2,710
Physical causes of Cumbria floods
Heaviest rainfall recorded in England: 314mm in 24 hours
Prolonged rainfall: 400mm in 72 hours
Ground already saturated from weeks of heavy rain before hand - reduced infiltration, increased overland flow.
Cockermouth, located at confluence of 2 rivers where tributary joins river Derwent
Cocker mouth built on floodplain
Physical causes of Pakistan floods
Prolonged and heavy rainfall: 274mm fell in 24 hours on July 29th
More than half the normal monsoon rains fell in only a week instead of 3 months
Unusual conditions (caused by sun) in polar jet stream - thought to have brought heavy rainfall, combined with monsoon rains
River Indus carries a lot of sediment and mud from Himalayas, which silt up the channel making it more prone to flooding
Human causes of Cumbria floods
Urbanisation of cockermouth increases risk of flooding, built on floodplain
Bridge across the river at Gote road, could’ve had damming effect-increasing friction and reducing the rivers efficiency at this point
Debris transported by flood could’ve been trapped at bridge making problem worse
Poor river management of whole area, river at Gote road hasn’t been dredged regularly since 60s - silt builds up narrowing the channel
Climate change- people think global warming increases the frequency of extreme weather events
Human causes of Pakistan floods
Many people live close to rivers to access water and fertile soils - 2/3 of Pakistanis depend of farming for income, vulnerable to floods result in loss on livelihoods
Levees have been built to reduce risk of floods, many were breached by floodwaters and exacerbated the problem, huge amount of water suddenly released
Flooding area so large, was able to spread into densely populated and or very stricken urban areas in south of Pakistan
Deforestation in Himalayas, increased flood risk, no trees covering the land, more water and sediment will each the river more quickly
Climate change/global warming may have strengthened the monsoon rains that contributed to the flooding
Short term social impacts of Cumbria floods
More than 500 people had to spend the night with relatives and friends of in emergency shelters
1 person was swept away and killed when bridge collapse
5 secondary schools and 13 primary schools in county were shut with many homes being cut off
Journeys which were once very short became very long due to big detours
Short term economic impacts of Cumbria floods
20 bridges and over 200 foot bridges were destroyed
Businesses were cut off for many many weeks
Short term social impacts of the Pakistan floods
Up to 20 million people were thought to have been injured or made homeless
Over 2000 deaths
‘The WHO’ estimated 10 million people had to drink unsafe water following flood
Education interrupted as 11,000 schools were damaged
Health care was reduced for millions of survivors as they couldn’t get to the services
Short term economic impacts of economic floods
100s of bridges and 200 health facilities were damaged or destroyed
Long term social impacts of Cumbria floods
After one year, only 3 out of the 20 bridges have been rebuilt
Year on, Cumbria county council said about 150 flooded households has still not returned to their properties.
198 people in the affected areas sought psychological help
Long term economic impacts of Cumbria floods
Damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure caused by floods resulted in a £276 million bill
110 farms severely affected, one farmer forced to sell his entire flock of sheep as he no longer had facilities for them
Many bridges have had to be re built after collapsing from floods
Loss of transport infrastructure affected retail and other businesses in the area
Long term social impacts of Pakistan floods
Disaster affected more people than those hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti combined
Six months later, thousands of homeless survivors are weathering the winter without any kind of emergency shelter, due to shortage of funds
Many people live below the poverty line, after floods 33% of Pakistanis were below
Increases in malaria, rates of malnutrition due to food scarcity and respiratory infections due to people living in tents in cold weather
Long term economic impacts of Pakistan floods
Total economic damage = £10billion
Damage to just infrastructure amounts to £7 billion
Farming sector badly hit, Central part of the economy, before flooding Pakistan was worlds fourth largest producer of cotton
80% of fields were left waterlogged in some areas, preventing farmers from sowing new seeds
What are the two case studies for causes and impacts of flooding?
Cumbria, UK
Pakistan
