Case Study: Flooding

Lynmouth Flood, 1952

Description of the Flood

§ 34 People lost their lives.

§ The town was torn apart.

§ 90 houses were demolished or damaged.

§ 130 cars and 19 boats were destroyed.

§ Roads and bridges were demolished.

§ Essential services like gas and electricity were cut off.

§ The cost of the damage was estimated at over £9, 000,000.

Causes of the Flood

§ A deep depression (area of low pressure) had formed over the drainage basin of the East and West Lyn rivers high up on the Exmoor.

§ The river profile was steep which produced very fast river runoff.

§ It rained continuously and heavily for days causing the soils to become saturated. This meant that the water had to run overland and this rapid run off caused the river to burst its banks very quickly.

§ Rocks and boulders were carried down the rivers, wrecking anything in their paths.

§ Uprooted trees and bridges acted as dams, creating large lakes behind them. These would suddenly collapse making the flooding worse.

§ The worst flooding happened at the confluence of the two tributaries, the East and West Lyn. The two rivers flooded together which increased the discharge suddenly at the point where they met.