Flooding in Carlisle- River Eden 2005

• Heavy rainfall- 200mm fell in 36 hours. Saturated soil increased run off into Eden
• Large Urban area- impermeable surfaces eg concrete increased run off
• This caused the rivers discharge to reach 1520 cumecs- compared to average of 52 cumecs.

Primary Effects: occured immediately 

• 3 deaths
• 3000 people made homeless
• 4 schools severely flooded
• 350 businesses shut down
• 70,000 adresses lost power
• roads and bridges were damaged
• rivers became polluted with sewage and waste 

Secondary Effects

• Children lost out on education for months when schools were shut 
• Stress related illnesses increased after the floods
• Around 3000 jobs were at risk in businesses affected by floods. 

Flood Protection measures:

• The environment agency monitor river levels and issue flood warnings to the public, local authorities and the media 
• Leaflets have been distributed that explain floodwarnings and tell people how to prepare beforehand
• Eden and Petteril Food Alleviation scheme involves building up flood defence walls and levees on the river
• Sand bags are distributed by the local council when flood warnings have been issued

• 70% of the country is less than 1m above sea level 
• there are 3 large rivers in Bangladesh
• Monsoon season
• Melting of snow from the Himalayas adds to the volume of water
• Deforestation for space and fuel increases run off
• 80% of the country is floodplain and Delta 
• Unexpected Urbanisation

Primary Effects: 

• 800 deaths
• 25 million people made homeless
• Flooding covered 50% of the country
• 100,000 people in Dhaka alone suffered from Diarrhoea from flood water
• Infrastructure was damaged and all flights had to be suspended throughout July
• 40% of Dhaka was underwater 

• People died of disease up to months later as still no access to clean water
• The damage to schools and hospitals was estimated at $7 billion
• The rice crop was devestated as well as Jute and Sugar

Responses:

• Bangladesh has a flood forecasting and warning system which allows warnings to be issued 72 hours before hand. However warnings dont reach rural communities 
• 6000km of man made levees were built, but are easily eroded + not well maintained. They can allow sediment to build up in other places of the river and increase the level of the river bed- thus risk of flooding.
• Embankments built to hold back rising water and slope protection to reduce erosion of them 
• Controlled flooding allowed in some areas under certain conditions- so build up of sediment in channels is reduced and flooding becomes less likely.