 Looking upstream from the bridge after the flood. | |
| Date | 16 August 2004 |
|---|---|
| Location |
|
| Deaths | None |
| Property damage | Extensive |
Boscastle is a coastal village and fishing port in the north of Cornwall. It is 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Tintagel and 14 miles (23 km) south of Bude.[1] The village's harbour is the only significant harbour for 20 miles (32 km) along the Cornish coastline.
The village has a temperate climate and is in the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There is lots of precipitation all year round which means that the soil and ground is always saturated. This means that the infiltration rate of the soil is greatly reduced, thus leading to more surface runoff which contributes to floods.
2004 flood
edit
The 2004 Boscastle flood is a flash flood that occurred on the 16th August 2004 in Boscastle and Crackington Haven. 6cm (2 inches) of rain, the average amount of rain for the month of August,[2] fell in two hours.[3] Property in the villages suffered extensive damage but fortunately there were no casualties. The damage was caused by an abnormal amount of rain that fell over eight hours in the afternoon of the flood. The flood in Boscastle was the subject of extensive media and television coverage, but the bloods in the neighbouring villages of Crackington Haven and Rocky Valley were not reported beyond the local news.[4] The change of this or an even worse flood is about 1 in 400. The chance each year of the three-hour rainfall at it's heaviest is about 1 in 1300 (although keep in mind that flood probability is not the same as rainfall probability).[5]
Damage and effects
editThe village visitor centre was washed away[3][6], people were trapped on roofs, in cars, buildings, the river's banks and residents were trapped in their houses as the village's roads turned into rivers.
Roads in the village were submerged under 2.75 metres (9 feet) of water, meaning until flood waters subsided communication was effectively impossible. The bridge was washed away and around 50 cars were swept into the harbour. The village sewage system burst, and for this range of safety and health reasons the village was declared temporarily inaccessible.
Businesses, homes and cars belonging to over 1,000 people were washed away; income from tourism was lost, which had an impact on the livelihood of villagers and the local economy, there were vast numbers of insurance claims, however no lives were lost. This was partly due to the quick response from the emergency services.
Rescue operation
editOne Royal Air Force Sea King helicopter from St Mawgan, two RAF Westland Sea Kings from Chivenor, three Royal Navy Sea Kings from Culdrose and one Coastguard S61 helicopter for Portland searched for casualties and assisted them around and in the village.
This operation was coordinated by the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) at RAF Kinloss in Scotland. It was the biggest peacetime rescue operation ever launched in the UK. 91 people were rescued, hundreds had to be evacuated[7] and the only injury was a broken thumb.
Many of the building were rebuilt over the years and Boscastle is now much better than it was back than in 2004.
Causes
editThe causes were:
- over 2.4 inches (60 millimetres) of rainfall (about a month's worth of rainfall)[2][3],
- the ground was already very saturated due to the above average rainfall for two weeks prior to the flood,
- the drainage basin has many steep slopes and has area of impermeable slate causing lots of surface run-off.
Boscastle is at the confluence (where tributaries meet) of three rivers, Valency, Jordan and Paradise. A large quantity of water arrived within a short space of time causing the rivers to overflow and thus Boscastle was flooded. The flooding coincided with high tide, making the impact worse.
References
edit- ^ Landranger map sheet 190 Bude & Clovelly. UK: Ordnance Survey. ISBN 9780319231456.
- ^ a b "Prince sees Boscastle devastation". BBC. 2004-08-18. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
- ^ a b c "Dozens rescued from flash floods". BBC. 2004-08-17. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
- ^ "Crackington Haven | Your source of Cornwall photos 365 days a year". www.cornwall365.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
- ^ Kingdom, Met Office, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3PB, United. "Flooding in north Cornwall - 16 August 2004". Met Office. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Kingdom, Met Office, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 3PB, United. "Flooding in north Cornwall - 16 August 2004". Met Office. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "BBC - Cornwall Uncovered - Devastation in Boscastle". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-28.