TITLE:
Saving Lives: Timely Flash Flood Warnings in the UK
AUTHORS:
Colin Clark
KEYWORDS:
Flash Floods Flood Warning Non-Linear Flow Model Historic Floods
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
14,
2017
ABSTRACT:
Flash floods are a major cause of death and destruction to property on a worldwide scale. In the UK sudden flooding has been the cause of the loss of over 60 lives during the last century. Forecasting these events to give enough warning is a major concern: after the 2004 flood at Boscastle, Cornwall UK the Environment Agency (2004) stated that it was not possible to provide a warning in such a fast reacting and small catchment. This is untrue since the Agency had already implemented a real time non-linear flow model as part of a flood warning system on the upper Brue in Somerset UK. This model is described in this paper as it has been applied to the Lynmouth flood of 1952, and briefly for the Boscastle catchment, both of which have an area of about 20 km2. The model uses locally measured SMD and saturated hydraulic conductivity data. With the addition of further parameters the model has been successfully used nationwide.