Title: Battling the tide : flood defences in the Anglian region
Author: National Rivers Authority Anglian Region
Document Type: Monograph
Abstract:
The battle to prevent the sea from invading the flat, low lying land around the Wash and east coast estuaries began nearly 2,000 years ago when the Romans built simple earth embankments to protect the fens they had drained. Since then, the history of the East Anglian coastline has been punctuated - even within living memory - with the terror and loss of life caused by flooding from the sea. Today, the Anglian Region of the National Rivers Authority spends 50m a year on maintaining, renewing and replacing 1,000 miles o f defences along the coastline between the Humber and the Thames. The phenomenon of North Sea surge occurs many times a year. Lasting for only a few hours, it is caused by low atmospheric pressure and high winds from the north which whip up a wall of water and drive it southwards. Four or five times a year the surge adds about one metre to the tide level but because it happens outside high water and bad weather there is no flooding risk. But on January 31st 1953 the surge reached nearly 2.5 metres and coincided with an exceptionally high spring tide and freak storm conditions at sea. This report describes flood defences and the battle against tides in the Anglian Region.
Publisher: National Rivers Authority
Publication Date: 1991
Publication Place: Peterborough
Subject Keywords: Flood defence structures; Sea regions; Coasts; Tides; Flood control; Flood barriers; Disaster preparedness
Geographic Keywords: Essex; Suffolk; Deben (river)
Extent: 7
Permalink: http://www.environmentdata.org/archive/ealit:2843
Total file downloads: 333
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