Storm Event
‘the most destructive weather-related disaster ever to hit the British Isles’
Source
The storm developed over the Atlantic Ocean and moved across Western Europe creating a south-westerly gale (English Towns, 2014). As the depression approached the North Sea, it combined with high tides and produce a storm surge. The storm surge impacted eastern part of England like a tsunami (Nobbs, 2015).
Pathway
No known sources of information.
Receptor and Consequence
s event was known as Saint Marcellus’ flood or Grote Mandreke (which means the ‘Great Drowning of Men’). This event was deemed as ‘the most destructive weather-related disaster ever to hit the British Isles’ (Moss, 2014). It was reported that at least 25,000 people in south-east England and the nearby Netherlands were killed, either as the result of high winds as trees, homes, and churches collapsed or drowned as a result of the storm surge (Moss, 2014; Liddell, 2016). The flood demolished a major fishing port in Holderness, Yorkshire called Ravenser Odd (Nobbs, 2015). The port of Dunwich in East Anglia were also severely damaged causing the decline of the port soon after. 400 houses were also damaged along the coastlines of Dunwich (Liddell, 2016).
Summary Table
| Loss of life | 25,000 people reported to have died from the wind and the flood combined. |
| Residential property | 400 houses damaged at Dunwich. |
| Evacuation & Rescue | * |
| Cost | * |
| Ports | Major fishing port Raverenser Odd and Dunwich port were severely damaged. |
| Transport | * |
| Energy | * |
| Public services | * |
| Water & wastewater | * |
| Livestock | * |
| Agricultural land | * |
| Coastal erosion | * |
| Natural environment | * |
| Cultural heritage | * |
| Coastal defences | * |
*No known sources of information available
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References
- English Towns. (2014). ‘Great Floods of the English Towns’. Available at: http://www.englishtowns.net/great-floods-of-the-english-towns/ (Accessed: 20 June 2019).
- Nobbs, Patrick. (2015). ‘6 of the most catastrophic weather events in British history’. historyextra. Available at: https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/6-of-the-most-catastrophic-weather-events-in-british-history/ (Accessed: 20 June 2019).
- Moss, Stephen. (2014). ‘And you think the UK’s winter is bad this year?’. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/shortcuts/2014/feb/12/winter-disaster-flooding-uk-history (Accessed: 20 June 2019).
- Liddell, Stephen. (2016). ‘The Drowned Village of Dunwich’. Available at: https://stephenliddell.co.uk/2016/02/29/the-drowned-village-of-dunwich/ (Accessed: 20 June 2019).