Boscastle Floods 2004

Geo fileOnline APRIL 2005
494

Alison Rae

The Boscastle floods of 16 August, 2004

Introduction Figure 1: The South West, showing key locations in this unit Somerset

The worst floods in the UK tend to Bristol Channel
occur in August, which surprises many N LYNTON LYNMOUTH
people. Ground becomes saturated in
particularly wet summers, and if a Exmoor
severe storm then follows, the result is National
large volumes of overland flow (surface
runoff). The classic example is the Park
Lynmouth/Lynton flood of 16 August,
1952. This is on record as being the Atlantic Devon
worst-ever river flood in the UK, with Ocean
34 deaths. Since that time, although
property has been destroyed, no Dorset
similar death toll has occurred. The
Boscastle 2004 event has many Exeter
similarities with the Lynmouth flood,
not least that it curiously occurred on BOSCASTLE Dartmoor Key
the same date, 16 August. The Daily National National parks
Mail of 17 August 2004 called the Bodmin County boundaries
Boscastle flood an ‘eerie echo of [the] Cornwall Park Large urban areas
Lynmouth horror’. Small urban areas
Plymouth Flood locations

English Channel

Boscastle in the news reused, as it was vulnerable flood plain, Boscastle has a mixture of residential
so best avoided. The river was diverted and local service functions, alongside
‘In just over five hours, Boscastle went and various flood defences put in an important tourist industry, earning
from a pretty Cornish tourist attraction place, but, basically, the village was income for the local community.
to a disaster zone.’ fully restored and looked much as it
had prior to the flood. It is true that Prior to 16 August, the village had not
Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, 18 August, 2004 some individuals and families may been flooded in living memory. Events
never have fully recovered from the such as the Lynmouth flood took place
The whole UK population knew of the Lynmouth event, as 34 people did lose much further up the coast, and so may
Boscastle flood event almost as soon as their lives and, back in the 1950s, it is not have been seen as significant. Few
it had happened. It was widely likely that fewer homes and businesses flood prevention measures had been
reported on television and radio, in would have been insured than is the taken.
newspapers and on the internet. It is case today. Boscastle, too, will be
interesting for the geographer to study restored, with some essential The physical factors
news coverage of natural hazards. The adjustments, largely within a few
media do not approach these topics months of the flood event itself. Severe flooding is the result of a
quite as geographers do. In their certain set of circumstances. The table
attempts to explain the reasons behind The settlement of Boscastle overleaf compares the circumstances of
the flood to the lay person, they select these two events, Lynmouth 1952 and
a limited number of the factors Boscastle is a small village on the Boscastle 2004. The physical
involved, so the whole picture may be north Cornish coast (Figure 1). Lying similarities are striking.
by no means clear. Any mention of at the mouth of the River Valency, it is
rock type, the previously wetter than surrounded by fairly steep, often Key physical factors promoting flash
average summer, and the combination wooded slopes. Just upstream from the flooding are:
of these to create overland flow, was village two steep-sided valleys meet, • impermeable rock
almost impossible to find in the those of the Valency and the Jordan. A • small basin
Boscastle coverage. Human interest third stream, the Paradise, also flows • round basin
stories, rather than geographical detail, through the village. On 16 August • steep relief
sell papers, so emphasis is placed on 2004 all three burst their banks, almost • lack of vegetation
damage to homes plus dramatic simultaneously. • ground already saturated from
rescues and evacuations, of which
there were several in August 2004. Even if you have never visited previous rainfall
Boscastle, you may have seen the • storm downpours.
There is also a certain amount of village on television if you watched the
exaggeration in the press, e.g. ‘the ‘Doc Martin’ series broadcast in the Impermeable rock does not let water
village of Boscastle will never be the summer of 2004. Some of the filming drain through it. However, more
same again’. Yet, if we look at was completed there prior to the flood permeable sandstones (Keuper Marl
Lynmouth, it was all rebuilt. event. and Bunter Sandstone) underlie
Differences in Lynmouth ‘before’ and Exmoor, the northern half of which is
‘after’ included some land not being drained by the Rivers East and West

Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2005

April 2005 no.494 The Boscastle floods of 16 August, 2004

Table: Comparison of factors in 1952 and 2004 floodings Figure 2: Cars swept away in the flood

Factor Lynmouth/Lynton (1952) Boscastle (2004)
Rock type Sandstone (permeable) Sandstone (permeable)
Basin size Small c 100 km2 V. small c 30 km2
Basin shape Each of the E & W Lyn Rounded in upper basin,
basins are quite rounded more elongated in lower
Relief Peak of watershed 491 m; Peak of watershed c 140 m:
falls to coast over 6 km falls to sea over 4 km
Ground already saturated Yes Yes
Amount of rainfall in storm >200 mm in 24 hours on 50 mm in 2 hours in the
top of Exmoor early afternoon

Lyn. These join just upstream of Human factors
Lynmouth. However, saturation of the
bedrock from previous high rainfall The surge of water through the village Source: Daily Mail, 17 August 2004, p. 3
resulted in the sandstone behaving as was reported as being 10 feet (over 3
if it was, in fact, impermeable. The m) high. At one stage it was made angles up and down the village main
Boscastle area is geologically worse by the street pattern and certain street (Figure 2).
dominated by Millstone Grit, another man-made structures. The village car
variety of sandstone, and the situation park lies at the top end of the main Emergencies during the event
was very similar. This effective street. Cars parked here were among
impermeability encourages overland the first objects to get washed down. One hundred and twenty people had to
flow (surface runoff) and shortens the One became trapped under the bridge be winched to safety by helicopters
lag time on the hydrograph. carrying the road across the river. In its scrambled from Culdrose, Chivenor
turn, it then caught even more and St. Mawgan in Cornwall, plus an
In a small drainage basin rainwater is material, branches especially. Water extra one from Portland (further east
likely to reach a channel in a relatively piled up behind this barrier, and when in Dorset). The seven helicopters used
short time, simply because the it gave way, the surge was huge. Many made this the largest joint RAF/Royal
distances involved are small. Similarly, of the cars which began the day in the Navy rescue since 1979. Those rescued
if the basin is quite round in shape, car park ended up wrecked in the included:
flow distances to channels are harbour (50 in all). Others were just
minimised. Both circumstances dumped by the floodwaters at all
contribute to a shortening of the lag
time. The River Valency basin around Figure 3: Building damage at Boscastle
Boscastle is very small. Neighbouring
streams are fairly close by, though 2 Key
overall drainage density is not as high 3 Roads
as with the many streams flowing
northwards off Exmoor in the Lyn 1 River
system. 4
5 Bridge
The relief behind Lynmouth is both
higher and steeper than that 76 Built-up area
surrounding Boscastle, where no such 8 of Boscastle
mass as Exmoor exists. Nevertheless, 9
individual slopes, especially the valley 10
sides close to Boscastle village, have a
considerable gradient. The slopes 11
around Boscastle are also quite well 12
wooded. Larger, denser vegetation
does reduce flood risk, but in the upper 13
valley, more dominated by grassland, 14
circumstances are more akin to the
grassy slopes of Exmoor. 15
16
The storm which resulted in the flash
flood took place in the early afternoon. 17
50 mm of rainfall fell in the space of
two hours and within another one to 19 18
two hours the flood waters were in full
spate. This represents an incredibly 1 3 people and one dog rescued by 9 Bridge – trees caught against it – acted
short lag time. Local people found this helicopter from roof. as a dam – considerable damage.
turn of events difficult to believe, as it
was quite unprecedented. 2 Car park – cars and tarmac washed 10 Clothing shop destroyed.
away. 11 Gift shop very badly damaged.
12 Cars in torrent became stuck here.
3 Visitor centre partly destroyed – 4 adults 13 Restaurant flooded badly.
and 4 children rescued from roof. 14 Museum flooded badly.
15 Gift shop damaged by uprooted trees.
4 20 adults and 10 children climbed out of 16 Stone bridge completely destroyed.
store onto adjacent roof via skylight – 17 Gift shop (16th century building)
rescued – wall acted as a dam and caught
cars from car park – later collapsed, completely destroyed – hit by camper van
sending surge of water and cars down river. in surge of floodwater.
18 Youth hostel damaged.
5 10 people rescued from roof. 19 Holiday cottages – set back from harbour,
6 5 people rescued from roof. so unaffected.
7 Hotel – 7 people rescued from roof.
8 Holidaymakers trapped – firemen had to

break through roof to rescue them.

Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2005

April 2005 no.494 The Boscastle floods of 16 August, 2004

Figure 4: Key moments in the rescue operation Others tried to bail the water out, but
afterwards many found their homes
Time: Event: and belongings covered in sludge.

15:46 Call from cliff rescue team regarding rapid river level rise The fact that so many holidaymakers
Concern for people around the harbour and daytrippers were involved made
15:51 Call to police from Boscastle resident to report floods beginning accounting for everyone extremely
16:02 Roads blocked and some areas cut off difficult. Some visitors had not told
Coastguards seriously concerned anyone where they were going to be for
16:03 Other emergency services requested the day. Imagine going out for a drive
16:05 RAF coordination centre put on standby and just deciding what you want to do
2 people trapped in a car at Boscastle harbour (police report) during the trip – very natural. Several
16:17 Several people trapped (fire service report) people’s whereabouts were therefore
16:20 Port Isaac inshore lifeboat launched not at all clear. Some were thought to
Report of footbridge washed away be involved, but then turned up
16:22 2 people trapped in café elsewhere. After the event, the
16:30 Rescue helicopters scrambled emergency services were amazed there
16:35 Roads into Boscastle closed (A39 & A395) had been no deaths or serious injuries.
16:36 Bude inshore lifeboat launched
16:52 Air ambulance standing by to receive casualties One holidaymaker’s story is typical:
17:16 Flooding now reported as severe
17:18 ‘Major incident’ message sent ‘We were going up the street, trying to
17:23 3 more rescue helicopters scrambled get back to the car park from the
Coastguard declares major incident bottom of the village. The water came
17:55 Winching operations began up very very quickly. At first it was just
Incident important enough to be placed under the control of an a couple of inches, then we were up to
18:00 Assistant Chief Constable our knees. The wall of the car park
Boscastle football pitch becomes drop zone for helicopters went and we shot into a house and up
18:00–21:00 Hospitals in Truro and Plymouth go on standby for casualties the stairs. We were stuck there for a
21:00 15 people already rescued while, then we climbed out of the attic
One further helicopter scrambled from Portland Naval Base window … and were airlifted off by the
Constant use of all helicopters in rescue work RAF.’
Helicopters begin to return to their bases
Cliff rescue and inshore lifeboat services continue the search for The Daily Telegraph, 17 August, 2004
casualties
Boscastle village was not the only
• the Shute family, comprising a 15- making it much more difficult and location affected. Several neighbouring
month-old girl trapped with her demanding. settlements and roads were also in
parents inside and then on the trouble. The local MP, Paul Tyler, was
roof of their vehicle at risk of At 3.46 p.m. in the afternoon of 16 trapped in his car for a while, five
being washed away. This August a member of Boscastle’s cliff miles away up the A39. The roads were
happened seven miles from the rescue team reported that river levels heavy with traffic, caused by people
main village site. The child was had risen by 7 feet (2.15 m) in one realising that this was not the safest
winched into the helicopter in a hour. Within another hour and a half place to be. At Camelford, several miles
rucksack; the true severity of the event had been further south and in the much larger
recognised as a helicopter pilot basin of the River Camel, sandbagging
• a neighbour of the Shute family, reported to the emergency centre at of houses close to the river began as a
John Statton, a farmer, swept RAF Kinloss (NE Scotland), ‘This is a precautionary measure. The river was
along for almost 20 m before major incident … We require all the flowing at bankfull. On the following
managing to cling on to a tree; standby aircraft available. We are in day, 17 August, the Environment
danger of losing the people in the Agency put out serious flood warnings
• several young children waiting to houses.’ Helicopters worked for three for other settlements further north up
be rescued on the roof of a house hours, rescuing the 120 in need from the Devon coast. Bude experienced
against which several cars and rooftops and trees. Figure 4 shows how almost 2 metres of floodwater.
trees were wedged, putting it the operation unfolded.
under dangerous pressure. It Damage sustained
could have given way at any During these events, coastguard teams
moment, but fortunately the watched the harbour in the hope of Figure 5 shows the parts of the village
children were rescued; spotting anyone being washed in. that flooded. Residents were all
About 1,000 residents and tourists compulsorily evacuated on Monday,
• a woman who had severed her were affected in total. The shops along 16 August. Two days later, building
thumb, and a man having a heart the harbour took the worst damage. engineers began work to assess the
attack Both householders and shop owners safety of all buildings. From that
used sandbags where possible to try to time, residents discovered whether
Figure 3 shows the locations of keep the water out, with mixed success. they could re-enter their homes and
buildings from which people had to what the likely prognosis was in terms
be rescued. There was heavy rain and of whether or not structures were
lightning throughout the operation, repairable. Figure 3 shows the
locations of the main buildings

Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2005

April 2005 no.494 The Boscastle floods of 16 August, 2004

damaged. Many proved repairable but Figure 5 Main flooded areas
unoccupiable in the meantime.
Residents were shown on television N Helicopters rescued people
news going back into their homes and trapped in their cars
businesses, under supervision, to
collect belongings for a stay away. Boscastle B3263 to
harbour – Bude (& A39)
On the day following the flood, 50 cars
Tuesday, 17 August, the rescue washed in Bridge collapsed – also 6 buildings
operation continued at first light. totally destroyed – others damaged
Several items were found floating in
the sea, as well as the 50 cars in the R. Jordan R. Valency
harbour, and these had to be checked
to see whether they included fatalities B3263 to B3266
or casualties. Items such as trees, Tintagel
fridge freezers and boilers were found, Key
some as far as 10 miles (16 km) out to 0 1 km Built up area of Boscastle village
sea! Hundreds of possessions were Main (B) roads through village
lost. Adapted from Daily Telegraph, 17 August 2004 Area affected by flash flood

‘Cars washed away, homes and shops Conclusion
devastated and dozens rescued as
Cornish resort is engulfed by flood In terms of physical causes, the
torrent.’ Boscastle flood was a remarkably
similar event to the 1952 Lynmouth
Front page headline, flood, but on a smaller scale.
Daily Mail, Tuesday, 17 August, 2004 Amazingly, no one was killed or even
severely injured in the more recent
Despite this, the basic clean-up event, which makes the Boscastle
operation was completed within a few flood very different to the Lynmouth
days because a large number of men one from the human point of view.
and machines were committed to the
task. From Wednesday, 18 August, Chance is very much a factor here –
diggers and other machines were out just because we have superior
clearing the streets of uprooted trees, technology today does not mean that
cars and other debris, despite the people will not be placed in situations
continued poor weather which beyond their control. Factors which
hampered the work. This effort was probably did make a difference in
encouraged by the usual visits from 2004 are:
public figures. John Prescott (Deputy
Prime Minister) and Prince Charles • more emergency services
(Duke of Cornwall) visited the scene available;
of devastation on the 17th and 18th
respectively, followed by the press as • speed of communication to
they did so. The county council emergency services quicker;
estimated the damage to bridges,
ditches and other small-scale • time of day – the Lynmouth flood
infrastructure would cost a minimum occurred at night, Boscastle in the
of £250,000 to rectify. Damage to afternoon, so people were more
buildings and businesses was aware and therefore more able to
estimated at several millions of get out of the way.
pounds.

Focus Questions

1. Construct a labelled hydrograph diagram to show the likely pattern of
events during the Boscastle flood.

2. This flood event was largely the product of physical factors, rather than of
human ones. Choose another flood event you have studied, one which
occurred in a much more urbanised basin. Compare and contrast the factors
leading to the two events.

3. What are the differences in the clean-up operation and in people’s losses in
MEDC floods compared with those in LEDCs?

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