70 years on from the 1953 North Sea Storm Surge, how would our communities fare in the face of a similar flood event?
The 1953 flood could be described as a perfect storm, where multiple factors combined to devastating effect. On 31 January 1953, strong northerly winds swept along the coast, coinciding with an exceptionally high spring tide. The low-pressure weather front caused sea levels to rise still further and the sea water was swept inland with great force. This huge tidal surge occurred late at night, so residents were largely unaware until water was waist high in their homes.
The flood was the worst natural disaster in recent UK history, causing the death of over 300 people on land and forcing the evacuation of over 30,000. Flood waters inundated over 60,000 hectares of land, damaging over 20,000 properties and causing an estimated £50 million damage – over £1 billion at today’s prices.
Great strides have been made to improve our coastal defences since 1953, with the establishment of the Thames Barrier and the Hull Tidal Barrier as well as various sea wall improvements around our coast. December 2013 saw the highest tidal surge in 60 years, and although 1,000 UK homes were flooded, the devastation didn’t reach the levels of the 1953 event, partly thanks to these new defences, but also because the winds weren’t as strong as predicted.
However, climate change is causing sea levels to rise and increasing both the frequency and intensity of storm events. Future tidal surges may become more powerful as a result and there is a limit to how strong and high our coastal defences may be built. Ideally, we should all have measures in place to increase the resilience of our properties to flood, so that we’re able to reduce the initial damage, but also ensure that we’re able to recover quickly following a flood event.
The Flood Innovation Centre is able to help businesses and charities establish what action they need to take in order to best protect their properties from flood and speed post-flood recovery. This can include a free flood survey and help with your flood planning. Contact flic@hull.ac.uk for more information or complete our registration form and we’ll be in touch.
Cover image, courtesy Wikimedia Commons