HIC Flood Storm Desmond and heavy rain brought

widespread flooding to Cumbria and other areas

Cockermouth 2015 of northern England, 7 December 2015.

Social impacts Economic impacts

-

Using the Bangladesh

template, complete this
Causes of flooding case study on the
1. Storm Desmond brought record high
rainfall – 348mm fell in a 24hr period Cumbria floods of
2. Following a wet Autumn, this fell on December 2015,
already saturated ground
3. Steep hill slopes meant that it flowed concentrating onResponse
the and management
town of Cockermouth.
-
into rivers quickly
4. Cockermouth is a small town that lies on
the confluence of 2 rivers (the Cocker Use the internet and
Environmental impacts
and the Derwent) – this causes a ‘bottle the handout.
neck effect’
5. Homes and businesses have been built
on the floodplain. This makes the
ground impermeable

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 HIC Flood Storm Desmond and heavy rain brought
widespread flooding to Cumbria and other areas
Cockermouth 2015 of northern England, 7 December 2015.

Social impacts Economic impacts

-

Causes of flooding
1. Storm Desmond brought record high
rainfall – 348mm fell in a 24hr period
2. Following a wet Autumn, this fell on
already saturated ground
Response and management
3. Steep hill slopes meant that it flowed
-
into rivers quickly
4. Cockermouth is a small town that lies on
the confluence of 2 rivers (the Cocker Environmental impacts
and the Derwent) – this causes a ‘bottle
neck effect’
5. Homes and businesses have been built
on the floodplain. This makes the
ground impermeable

www.interhigh.co.uk
 The 2004 floods lasted from July to September
and covered 50% of the country at their peak.

LIC Flood
Bangladesh 2004
Characteristics of Bangladesh Social impacts
-36 million people were
-Lays mainly on floodplains, so flat land made homeless
Most of the land lies 6metres below sea -People died as a result of
-3 main rivers- The Ganges, Brahmaputra and disease because they had no
Meghna. access to clean water.
-Monsoon season every year – high -Impacted on rural farmers
concentrated rainfall in a few months (June to and urban slum dwellers the
September). most.
-1,800mm and 2,600mm rain a year. -Over 800 died with many
-Poverty is a huge issue in Bangladesh-low more from disease
literacy rate
-Flooding occurs naturally in Bangladesh
-Snow from the Himalayas melts each year and
increase river discharge Environmental impacts
-Sediment blocks up the river and causes During July and August
flooding approximately 38% of the total
-Deforestation in the forest increases run off and land area was flooded
reduces lag time including 800,000 ha of
-Cyclones occur in the Bay of Benegal and agricultural land and Dhaka
causes coastal flooding Floods caused river bank
-Densely populated areas meaning increase in erosion especially on
deaths embankment areas close to
the main channels, soil
erosion, water-logging, water
contamination
Economic impacts
-serious damage to infrastructure – roads,
bridges, embankments, railway lines,
irrigation systems
-All domestic and internal flights had to be
suspended during July
-Value of damage was assessed as being
in region of $2.2 billion of 4% of total GDP
for 2004
Response and management
-Reliance on Ngo support – financial and
emergency supplies –UN disaster
management support
-Self help schemes promoted
-local community early warning system
implemented, plus shelters
-Increasing use of levees to protect field
and villages
-Increasing monitoring to reduce the
impact as happens every year.
-encourage farmers to build homes on
stilts.

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