“Discuss the impact of storm events in the British Isles and evaluate the responses to them” 40 marks
Impact social:
Hundreds of people had to be rescued by emergency services
Main bridge collapsed, and so communication became extremely difficult-
Primary impact, direct impact is that the bridge collapsed and the indirect impacts include, cut off communications between the town and other towns surrounding it.
3 months after the flood more than 2000 homes and businesses were affected and 200 families where still living in temporary accommodations-
Secondary impact, direct impact is that people still had no permanent homes and businesses didn’t make money and the indirect impacts include that the people lost their homes, belongings and own personal space. Indirect impacts also include that people were jobless and so had no money, to feed themselves or their families.
Dirty water from the flood caused diseases and infections. It could have also damaged the homes in terms of pollutions and swage. It could wash away the foundations of the home and a lot of work might be needed to make the home a liveable place again.
2,239 properties were inundated with water –
Primary impact, the direct impact is that properties were flooded with water. The indirect impact was that people lost their jobs and homes. They had lost their belongings and had no job to earn money.
The insurance of homes and businesses will rise-
Secondary impact, the indirect impact includes people not being able to afford homes and so may have to leave the area that they were living in.
Impact economic:
£124m of damage to commercial property and businesses –
Secondary impact, indirectly effects peoples businesses and jobs and so automatically affected their incomes.
£91m of damage to residential and other properties
£34m of damage to the county's transport network-
Secondary impact, indirectly affects the people that need to travel and communication between other towns and cities.
£7m of damage to two flooded GP surgeries-
Secondary impact, indirectly affects doctors that lose their jobs, and so have no income. Also affects the health of the locals since they have no medical practices they can go to when they are sick.
£5m spent on grants to support local businesses
County's tourism businesses lost an estimated £2.5m due to the floods
Secondary impact, indirectly affecting the income of the area since it loses money, which leads to slower development within the area.
Across Cumbria a total of 2,239 properties were flooded. Around 80% of these were people’s homes and 20% were shops and business
Impact environmental:
Rivers altered (erosion and