Coastal Flooding: 1953 Storm Surge Case Study
The Storm was a major flood caused by a heavy storm that occurred on the night of Saturday, 31 January 1953 and morning of Sunday, 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland. A combination of a high spring tide and a sever European Windstorm over the North Sea caused a storm tide, which therefore overwhelmingly surpassed sea defences and causes rapid and wide flooding. A maximum gust was identified as 126mph at Costa Hill, Orkney. Furthermore, Global warming was another contribution due to the rising sea levels.
In terms of the effects, the storm itself had resulted in multiple problems and disasters throughout those countries I mentioned before. Firstly, Flood defences were broken through as sea water swept up to two miles inland, inundating low lying areas and flooding thousands of homes. Furthermore, Coastal towns in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent were battered as sea water surged into the streets. To add to this, 307 people in English coastal and villages had lost their lives for example, more than 60 people died between King’s Lynn and Nearby Hunstanton. More than 177 people affected by the storm were lost at sea although on the other hand, more than 30,000 were moved to safety and about 13,000 people evacuated from Canvey Island, Essex. Many died in capsized fishing boats and more than 130 people were killed when the Irish Channel ferry Princess Victoria had sank. In terms of problems in other areas, the death toll did exceed 1,800 In the Netherlands mostly in the South – western province of Zeeland. Also a 1,000 mile stretch of the British coast, from Shetland to Kent was affected. Not only was the storm causing Social problems, but also economic problems for example the estimated damage repair was £50 million.
In terms of the Economic effects, firstly estimated damage ran to £50 million at 1953 prices, approximately £1.2 billion at today's prices and to add to this, Infrastructure including power stations, gasworks, roads, railways, sewage services and water services were put