Flood case study - Boscastle

Boscastle is a small fishing tourist village on the north Cornwall coastline.

Valency is the main river invlolved in the Boscastle flood.

The were 3 main causes of the flood were:

1) Prolonged rainfall - this is one of the reasons Boscastle flooding, as the whole of August was wet, and it rained for 12 of 14.

2) Heavy rainfall - thunderstorms were produced by a low pressure area on 16th August. At Otterham and Lesnewth, 200mm of rain was recorded within 24 hours (most rainfall fell within 5 hours meaning it was coming down in a great, heavy amount).

3) Small drainage basin - the drainage basin that flows through Boscastle is very small. It is only 7.7 miles squared.

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