1. Boscastle Floods, 16 th August 2004

2. Boscastle Floods, 16 th August 2004 – Causes:  Over 70mm of rain fell in just two hours  The ground was already saturated due to the previous two weeks of stormy weather. This meant that during the next period of heavy rain, water ran straight into the river as surface run-off, reducing the lag time  The Boscastle drainage basin has many steep slopes and large areas of impermeable slate causing rapid surface run-off  Boscastle is at the confluence of three rivers – Valency, Jordan, and Paradise. A large quantity of water all arrived within a very short space of time causing the rivers to overflow  The flooding also coincided with a high tide, making the impact worse  Boscastle was built on a flood plain, meaning the area is much more likely to flood  There were several bridges along the river, meaning that when debris was swept up by the river, it got trapped by the bridge and slowed the rivers velocity

3. Boscastle Floods, 16 th August 2004 - Responses Short Term:  Helicopters from the RAF and the Navy were drafted in to help with the evacuation process  Buildings were searched to make sure there was no one injured  Trees were removed and roads were cleared  Sandbags were put in place

4. Boscastle Floods, 16 th August 2004 - Responses Long Term:  A £4.5 million flood defence scheme  The drainage systems around the village were improved so that they would cope better in a future flood event  The river channels were artificially widened and deepened to allow the rivers to hold a larger volume of water, in the case of a flood event, and not burst their banks as easily  The banks of the rivers were reinforced for further protection against future flood events

5. Boscastle Floods, 16 th August 2004 – Effects Short Term:  58 properties destroyed  84 cars wrecked  3 shops destroyed  60 people evacuated  Trees were uprooted and washed downstream  20 tonnes of soil moved and deposited and soil erosion occurred  Damage to the infrastructure

6. Boscastle Floods, 16 th August 2004 – Effects Long Term:  Income from the tourist industry was lost which had an impact on the livelihoods of the inhabitants and the local economy. The main industry in Boscastle was tourism with attractions like ‘Witchcraft Museum’ which was damaged beyond repair  There was a large number of insurance claims costing thousands of pounds and now means that the price of home insurance in the Boscastle is much higher  No lives were lost, partly due to the rapid response of the emergency services