sommerset level floods Flashcards
what year was this
2014
…lying coastal… and …lands located in the south… of the uk in the county of …
low lying coastal plains and wetlands located in the south west of the uk in the county of sommerset
the low lying nature of the area makes it
prone to flooding
rain (causes)
a series of depressions (low pressure areas causing heavy rain) hit the uk bringing weeks of wet weather.
what months experienced the most rain and what was the effect of this
jan - feb experienced 350mm of rain which is 100mm above average causing rivers to overflow and burst their banks onto the floodplains
high tides (causes)
seawater levels were higher due to high tides and storm surges brought by the Atlantic depressions. the high tides prevented fresh water from being able to drain onto the sea which made the river levels rise further.
dredging (causes)
rivers were full of sediment as they had not been dredged for over 20 years. This meant less water could be held in the river channel, and they overflowed quicker.
social impact (impact)
over 600 homes flooded
16 farms evacuated
power supplies cut off - affected particularly the elderly with medical conditions
economic (impact)
cost of damage estimated to be over 10mil
over 1000 livestock had to be evacuated - cost for farmers to re locate the animals putting strain on their business
roads cut off, meaning people struggled to get to work, affecting the economy
environmental (impact)
sewage, chemicals like pesticides and oil contaminated the flood water which spread to other areas - making clean up efforts more costly.
flooding destroyed ecosystems - reducing biodiversity
stagnant water was left deoxygenated so water had to be reoxygenated and pumped back into rivers - increasing the risk of waterborne illnesses
immediate responses
warnings - warned to evacuated - this managed the risk of harm
temporary flood defences - sandbags - reducing the damage to properties as less water is entering
long term responses
flood action plan - 20 year plan with the aim to reduce the risk of future flooding
flood action plan
dredging
drain enhancements
dredging (flood action plan)
aim and progress
aim - dredge 8km of the river tone and the river parratt to increase the capacity of the river channel and reduce the risk of bursting its banks
progress so far - maintanence dredging has taken place each year
4km dredged in 2014 removing 130000 cubic metres of silt
drain enhancements (flood action plan)
aim and progress
aim - develop better drainage so that expensive pumping mechanisms do not need to be relied upon during future flooding events
progress - roads have been raised to help with drainage and reduce flooding risk
