Boscastle 2004

Boscastle 2004

Situated on a flood plain in a valleywith interlocking spurs
1. Interlocking spurs acted as a funnel
River Valency and River Jordan
185 mm of rain fell in 5 hours
Soil was already saturated from recent rainfall
No flood prevention system
Drainage and sewage systems were old and lacked capacity
1. Sewage systems burst
50 cars were swept into the harbour
Bridge was washed away and roads were submerged under 2.75m of water
1. Communications were made difficult
2. Boscastle was declared inaccesible
4 buildings were destroyed and 58 damaged
Hypothermia concerns
No power in village for some time
Tourism economy destroyed
1. 20 accomodation providers were shut
No loss of life due to speedy recovery because of Britain's superb resources as an MEDC
100s were evacuated from their homes
1. 120 from rooftops alone
  1. 7 helicopters from the Coastguard, the Royal Navy and the RAF were used
Village was cordoned off for clean-up operation
Prince Charles and the deputy prime minister came to see the recovery operation
Repairs went on for a long period of time and were very costly
1. A huge fund-rasing effort took place to raise money for the cause
Insurance is now costlier in Boscastle

Resource summary

	Created by Oliver Hall about 9 years ago