Aberfan

Aberfan

Causes
1. Rotational Slip
  1. a small rotational slip occurred, but would have created little damage had the waste not been placed incorrectly
2. waste tip from coal mining was placed on top of a spring in the hillside
  1. the waste combined with water and heavy rainfall, increasing the pore pressure and forcing the soil and rocks to park, weakening the ground
    1. the liquified debris slid downhill at high speed towards the town, picking up larger debris along the way.
Management/ Recovery
1. A disaster fund was created for the recovery of the town, raising £1.75 million worldwide
  1. used to clean the remaining debris and was given to bereaved struggling families
  2. A memorial was created, a new community hall built and houses were repaired.
2. hundreds of people from nearby areas arrived to help with the clean up and give aid to those who were most severely affected
  1. A mass funeral was held on the 25th October, and the children buried on the hillside
3. it was almost a week until all of the bodies were recovered- no-one was rescued alive after 11am on the day of the disaster
  1. The NCB and Treasury refused to accept full financial responsibility for the tragedy so the Aberfan Disaster Fund had to contribute £150,000 towards removing the remaining tip that overlooked the village.
    1. This was finally repaid in 1997 on the instigation of Ron Davies, the then Secretary of State for Wales.
4. management and preventative measures had not be take in Aberfan as there was little chance of it occurring, the landslide only occurred due to the fault of the mining company rather than other causes
  1. In 1969 a new legislation was created to prevent similar disasters occurring- safe slag heaps had to be created inkiness and quarries by law
Impacts
1. Social
  1. severe loss of life: 147 people died, 116 of those were school children from Pantglas Junior School
    1. decrease in younger population
    2. the town is still affected by the loss of life now
  2. grief and increase in mental health issues including depression and PTSD, leading to addictions e.g. alcoholism in some cases.
  3. many people turned away from religion-"my Mom stopped believing in God. She could not understand how he had allowed so many people and children to die so horribly."
    1. causes a decrease in community
2. Economic
  1. 10,000 miners were employed in South Wales before the accident, this has since decreased to a few hundred.
  2. Clean up of the waste and debris cost £150,000
  3. loss of agriculture, tourism, industrial and forest productivity as a result of damage to land and facilities meant a severe decrease to the local economy
    1. reduced real estate values in the most vulnerable areas
3. Environmental
  1. the nearby stream was polluted from the constant production of coal and the debris from the landslide
    1. made the stream uninhabitable for fish and marine life
    2. loss of trees, green space and plants
      1. destruction of habitats affecting wildlife species and ecosystems
  2. over 150,000m2 of debris was left behind by the landslide
9:15am Friday 21st October 1966
1. Aberfan: a small former coal mining village in South Wales

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	Created by katherine.crick almost 9 years ago