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The Water Cycle
5.5 - Flooding
Somerset Levels Flood, 2014 (Case Study)
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Created by
Billy Dudden
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Cards (4)
Causes
Physical
- A quick succession of
prolonged Atlantic storms.
Rivers couldn't hold all the
rainfall
Human
- Dredging, changes in
farming
practices, changing
land use
Social impacts
Short term
Temporary
housing
Several villages, such as
Moorland
and
Muchelney
, were cut off
1000
livestock evacuated
Oil
and
gas
stolen
Long term
Train service disrupted
A361
closed
Economic impacts
Short term
600
homes and
16
farms evacuated
£10
million in damages
Over
14,000
hectares of agricultural land flooded
Long term
Fuel used to power emergency pumps cost
£200,000
per week
£1
million lost by local businesses
Tourism
industry lost £200 million
Environmental impacts
Short term
10
% of the area was
underwater
when flooding was at its
greatest
Long term
Extensive
contamination
of floodwaters by
sewage
,
oil
and various
chemical pollutants
Significant amount of
debris
removed
Stagnant water
re-oxygenated
In some areas it took over
2
years to restore the soil before
crops
could be grown