AS Geography: Flooding Case Studies
Flooding case studies for Geography AS Level
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- Created by: Jack Burrows
- Created on: 12-01-11 18:43
Bostcastle, Cornwall, 2004
- 16th August 2004
- By midday thundery downpours developed in Southwest England as a result of an intensive low-pressure weather
- 200mm of Rain fell in 24 hours
- Most of this fell between midday and 5pm
- Rainfall most intense between 3pm-4pm (when it exceeded 100mm h)
- Rainfall was very loacalised
- Rainfall heaviest toward east of Boscastle on high ground.
- The high land encouraged precipitation in the form of orographic rainfall
- Ground was already saturated due to previous wet weather which reduced further infiltration into the ground
- Village of Boscastle lies in a deep valley-downstream of the confluence of the rivers Valency and Jordan
- Runoff to the river was rapid
- Flooding first reported at 4pm
- 60 or so properties submerged-not all these in the town, some within the tributaries catchment area
- 70-80 cars swept away
- Damage to roads, bridges, property and services-no deaths
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Southern Britain, July 2007
- Weather conditions throughout summer of 2007 were exceptional
- Total rainfall (May-July_)was the highest on record for England & Wales since 1766
- 20th July-was exceptional rainfall
- Outstanding storm totals were reported across much of southern Britain
- 144mm Pershore, 111 mm at Chieveley, 120mm at Brize Norton
- Historical Data suggests such a flood only occurs once every 100 years
- Summer usually reduces risk of flooding with dry soil, however early summer rainfall meant that the soils were already close to saturation
- Groundwater levels also much higher than usual
- Intense storms lead to a number of loacalised but severe flash floods in Urban areas (Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, Ludlow in Shropshire and Buckingham)
- The rainfall quickly overwhelmed urban drainage systems
- Emergency services were widely deployed to rescue stranded people and organise evacuations
- Transport disrupted, last day of school-therefore a lot of holiday traffic
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Southern Britain, July 2007
- Thousands stranded on the M5 for hours
- As the floods moved downstream many floodplains were inundated, causing serious flooding and extreme crop damage
- Worst affected areas in the lower part of the Severn and Warwickshire Avon basins (Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury) and some upper reaches of the Thames catchment, including Oxford.
- 3 people died-in Gloucestershire
- 45,000 homes without power
- 350,000 homes without running water, 140,000 still affected more than a week later
- £25 million damage to Gloucestershire's roads
- Farmers lost up to 50% of crops leading to shortages and raised prices the following Autumn
- £3 billion flood damage covered by insurance
- £1 billion cost to the water industry
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Bangladesh, 2004-1
- Bangladesh-Low lying country most of which lies on the delta land of three major rivers Ganges Brahmaputra and Meghna-The sources of these rivers is in the Himalayas, so snow melt adds to their discharge during spring
- Experiences a wet season between may and September with low pressure and winds blowing from Southwest bringing heavy rain to the coast
- During the rainy season Bangladesh suffers from cyclones than bring, winds, precipitation and storm. These conditions increase the discharge of the rivers and their distributaries-causing regular floods
- Urbanisation has added to the role of the severity of the floods
- Dhaka now has a population of more than 1 million
- Rapid Deforestation in the Himalayas has had a negative effect on the rate of interception and evapotranspiration-resulting in more water reaching the rivers
- River management hard in LEDC's like Bangladesh (one of the poorest countries in the word) with a gross domestic product per capita standing at around $300.
- Most of the population rely on subsistence farming, growing rice on rented plots of land
- Bangladesh relies heavily on foreign aid to finance large development projects which might help prevent floods
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Bangladesh, 2004-2
- In 2004, the monsoon season brought more rainfall than usual.
- Later June through to September three main rivers burst there banks
- During July, August around 38% of the total land area of the country was flooded, including 8000,000 hectares of agricultural land and the capital city, Dhaka.
- 36 million out of a 125 million were made homeless
- By Mid-september the death toll had risen to 800. Many people died due to lack of clean water
- Flood also caused serious damage to the country's infrastructures, roads, bridges, embankments, railways, irrigation systems.
- Value of the damage was assessed as being $2.2 billion, 4% of the GDP for 2004
- In July, the UN activated a disaster management team to coordinate the activities of various UN agencies-who supplied critical supplies.
- People in Bangladesh are resilient, so self-help schemes were common
- In poor countries like bangladesh long term responses relies on other countries
- Following the 2004 floods, finical aid was granted for 5 years from a loan from the world bank
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Hard Engineering-Three Gorges dam, China
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