Paper 2-Bostcastle flood Flashcards
Where is Boscastle?
Small village in the north of Cornwall in the south west of the UK.
When did the Boscastle flood happen?
16th August 2004.
What is a flash flood?
Caused by heavy or excessive rainfall in a short period of time, generally less than 6 hours.
How much rainfall fell in Boscastle?
7cm of rain fell in 2 hours.
What are some potential causes of a flash flood?
Small round basin. Steep valley sides. Lack of vegetation. Heavy rainfall in short time. Ground already saturated. Impermeable rocks.
What were some of the physical causes of the Boscastle flood?
Torrential rain and high tide, remains of hurricane Alex.
High land caused warm moist air to rise and rapidly condense into clouds.
The ground was saturated from previous rainfall.
Confluence of 3 rivers so huge volumes of water.
Steep land caused flood water to travel quickly to the valley floor.
What were some of the human causes of the flood?
The street pattern increased surface runoff. Cars and vegetation became trapped under a low lying bridge. This acted as a dam and caused an increased flow of water to the village.
The old sewer systems were overwhelmed by the volume of water and so water overflowed them.
What were some of the social impacts?
84 cars recovered and 32 were never found. 1000 residents and tourists were affected and 58 properties were flooded.
What were some of the economic affects?
20 hotels and bed and breakfasts were shut. Damage to infrastructure and roads cost more than 2Billion. 25 businesses were destroyed and the museum of witchcraft was severely damaged.
What were some of the environmental impacts of the Boscastle flood?
Four bridges were washed away and trees were uprooted and carried downstream.
What were some of the responses?
7 helicopters from the RAF and Royal Navy were used in the rescue operation and 120 people were rescued.
Shop owners used sandbags to keep as much water out as possible. Tourists who lost there cars were given shelter by local hotels.
Diggers and machinery cleared the streets.
Environmental agency improved flood defences with 10 million pound improvements, the river was widened and the car park was raised to a higher level.
