The Lynmouth Flood 1952Student Assignment

• Name __________________________________Group ____

Section Points ScoreWhere is Lynmouth? 7

The Weather 10

Exmoor 8

The East Lyn Valley 11

Human Factors 10

Bridges 14

Changes in Lynmouth 12

Flood defences 8

Boscastle and Lynmouth 20

Total 100

Use your packets from Nettlecombe, notes made from the Powerpoint presentation and your own research to complete each section. Print answers neatly. Untidy work will be penalized.

Where is Lynmouth?Look at the Google Satellite Image opposite. Locate and label the following features on the image (5pts)

1.The town of Lynmouth2.The East Lyn Valley3.The confluence of the East and West Lyn Rivers4.Watersmeet House5.The Bristol Channel

In which region of the UK do we find Lynmouth? ( 1pt)

____________________

In which county is the town located? (1pt)

____________________

The WeatherIn the space opposite, place the following five labels in the correct chronological order – i.e. In the order they happened! (10 pts)

1. Torrential thunderstorm drops 280 mms of rain in 24 hrs

2. Four Months Worth of Rain in first 2 weeks of August

3. Streams already full and ground saturated

4. Low pressure system sweeps in from Atlantic

5. Late Afternoon skies blacken

ExmoorLook at the image opposite

1.There are hardly any trees growing on Exmoor. Why is this? (2pts)

2.What is growing there? ( 1pt)

3. How might woodland reduce the chances of flooding (1pt)

4. What is this part of Exmoor called? ( 1pt)

5. How did the thin soils and the impermeable granite rocks of Exmoor contribute to the risk of flooding? (2 pts)

6. How did people in the valleys first realize that soils were being washed off the moors in August 1952 ( 1pt)

The East Lyn ValleyThis photograph was taken looking downstream from Watersmeet.

1.In the space below the photo, draw a labelled sketch of the photo, showing the following ( 8pts)

• Steep sides of valley• Inside bank of meander• Large boulders• Direction of flow of river.

2.Why might buildings on the inside bank of the meander survive better than ones on the outside? ( 3 pts)

BridgesHow did the bridges contribute to the flooding in 1952? ( 2 pts)

What is an ecocentric bridge and how does it work? ( 2 pts)

What is a technocentric bridge and how does it work (2 pts)

Add labels to the images opposite to show which type of bridge each is and some of the features you’ve just mentioned. (8pts)

Sketch by Margaret Peters, from ‘Lyn in Flood” by Keene and Elsom, Oxford Brookes Univ. 1990.

Human Factors that made consequences worse.Think about some of the things people did that might have made the situation worse. Were there things that people couldn’t do because of the times they were living in.? What did people not have in terms of equipment that we take for granted nowadays.

Add bullet point notes under the headings opposite to explain how these human factors contributed to the scale of the disaster.( 10 pts total)

Changes in Lynmouth

Lynmouth pre-1952 Lynmouth today

Look at the 2 maps above.1. Highlight in red any building on the pre-1952 map that is not there today. ( 3 pts)2. Identify 3 changes that have been made to reduce the impact of a future flood. ( 6pts)

1.

2.

3.

3. Indicate on the modern map where these changes are. (3 pts)

Flood defences –how has the town changed?Look at the image oppositeIdentify 4 things that the town has done to reduce the impact of a future flood. ( 8pts)

1.

2.

3.

4.

Image from http://www.oursouthwest.com/gallery/gallery5.htm

Similarities!Look at these two images – of Lynmouth and BoscastleIdentify 3 similarities about the location of these two towns. ( 6pts)1.

2.

3.

Boscastle,

Lynmouth

The towns of Lynmouth and Boscastle both suffered floods. Read through the attached document on the Boscastle Floods and then explain the similarities between the 2 events under each heading. Use bullet points/notes ( 20 pts)

Factor Both had...

The shape of the land 1.

2.

3.

The weather on the day 1.

2.

3.

The position of the towns 1.

2.

The impact on the towns – damage, loss of life.

1.

2.

3.