1. Case Studies:Floods in Southern Britain 2007 (MEDC)Floods in
Bangladesh 2004 (LEDC)
2. Causes: Total rainfall from May to July 2007 were the highest
on record, Outstanding storms totals were recorded across much of
Southern Britain Intense rainfall recorded on 20th July Flood risk
summer is normally reduced by dry soil conditions, however, in this
case the record early summer rainfall meant soil were already close
to saturation groundwater level much higher little infiltration /
percolation capacity Drainage system failure 3. TeesHumber The
flood threatTrentto England andWalesGreat
OuseTrentSevernTeesThamesSevernAvonThamesAvonGreat OuseHumber 4.
Source BBC 5. People were evacuated from their homes (Hull 8600
homes were flooded and many people had not returned 12 months
later) Building & property were damaged Insurance claim abt 3
billion) Animalswere trapped and crops were ruined (thousands of
hectare grain crops were lost) 6. Public utilities were disrupted
electric, gas, water supply Gloucester: 140000 homes without water
for 2 weeks Transport & communications were flooded
Economicimpact on shops, offices & industry some closed for 1
week 300schools were damaged in Yorkshire & Hummberside
Political pressure put on government (funding double from 2000 to
2008 7. Fact file: A low-lying country Lies on delta land ofthree
major rivers:Ganges, Brahmaputra& Meghna Source of theserivers
are in theHimalayas snowmelts add totheir dischargeduring spring 8.
80% of the country is floodplain and delta due to the confluence of
three rivers: The Ganges, Brahmaputra & Meghna Tropical
cyclones bring heavy rain and storm surges cause coastal floods
Heavymonsoon rains over the Himalayas, upland Assam & central
Indian plateau The Himalayas are still growing with earthquakes
erosion and increased loads & sediments for rivers 9.
Deforestation rapidly increase population in Nepal & Tibet
removal of forest Reducedinterception, increased overland flow soil
erosion & Landslides Dambuilding reduces downstream discharge,
encourage sedimentation Global warming higher rainfall in Nepal
rising sea level Urbanisationimpermeable concret speeds off run-off
10. 38% of total land area of the country is flooded 800 000
hectares of agricultural land and the capitalcity, Dhaka 36 million
people were homeless Death toll up to 800, died due to disease as
they had toaccess to clean water Caused serious damage to countrys
infrastructure,roads, bridges railway lines Value of damage - $2.2
billion or 4% of total GDP Affect both the poor & wealthy
areas, the slum dwellers,squatting on poorly drained land, suffered
the most.
