Geography A unit 2 Rivers

In 2002, the environment Agency started a £6.8 million project on managing the River Nene to protect the surrounding areas.

In 2003, 450 metres of clay embankments were built along the river in the area of Northampton, costing £2 million. This raised the level of land by 6.8 metres. The embankments were landscaped to reduce visual impact. There was also a storage area created behind the embankments which provided habitats for aquatic fauna and flora.

In 2003, the flood warning system was upgraded. Testing ws carried out in the areas of St James and Far Cotton. The environment Agency aim to give people at least 2 hours notice before the onset of flooding and a flood season awareness campaign was put into action.

In 2007, work began around the area of Upton by creating Washlands where water could be stored. The aims of this work was to create an area where water could be stored. This cost £8 million. In times of flood, water is diverted into open grassland where up to 1.2 million cubic metres of watr can be stored harmlessly.

The Upton Way (A45) was also raised on 6 metre high earth embankments to prevent flooding of the road.

CAUSES:

On the 26th December 2003 at 5am, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Bam in Iran. It was caused by the convergent plate boundary of the Eurasion and Arabian plate.

EFFECTS:

The earthquake killed 30,000 people, injured 50,000 and caused 100,000 to be homeless. The earthquake was particularly devastating because most people were at home asleep and the earthquake casued buildings to collapse on top of people.

2 hospitals collapsed and 90% of buildings within a 10km radius of the city of Bam experienced  60-100% damage. 30% of Iran's irrigation systems were also damaged, power and communication lines were damaged, faultlines developed on faults and there were lots of landslides and rock falls.

Over 40 countries sent humanitarian aid to Bam.