Cockermouth, England Case Study

Cockermouth, England

When: 20-24th November 2009

Causes? 

Human

• Cockermouth is built on the confluence of two rivers making it susceptible to flooding after heavy rains
• The drains and sewers were inadequate and not designed to cope with high levels of rainwater
• Urbanisation of the town has created more impermeable surfaces which caused rain water to reach rivers quicker resulting in much higher discharge
• The flood damage coincided with reduced budgets meaning that flood defences were inadequately maintained

Physical

• The river Cocker/ Derwent rose by over 2.5m 
• Cockermouth is on the confluence of two rivers
• There was a lot of rainfall in early November 
• The land was saturated and the water from earlier Storms went straight into river channels 

Impacts

Social

1. Electricity cut off for over 1,200 people
2. Hundreds of local businesses were flooded
3. 18 farms were identified as being badly damaged by the floods 
4. Train stations flooded
5. Looting occurred 
6. Bridges were washed away, including some of architectural importance due to them being over 100 years old. This also meant that people had to make huge detours. 
7. A large number of people were unable to stay in their homes due to them being flooded. They tried to salvage what they could from their ruined homes. 

Economic

1. Businesses lost their stock as well as future trade in the run up to Christmas
2. 225 local businesses and shops were affected by the high water in the town centre, which in places rose to a level of 3 metres. They were also affected by the huge detours caused by damage to roads and bridges.
3. 18 farms were badly damaged by the floods.
4. The cost of the flood damage for the whole of Cumbria was at least £275 million and was many millions of pounds for Cockermouth alone. 

Environmental

1. Sewage water was mixed with the river water
2. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sand and gravel had been deposited on fields alongside the river Cocker
3. The floods caused significant erosion and deposition along the the course of the river Cocker. 
4. The floods also caused significant damage to roads, bridges, walkways and bridleways. 

Responses 

Short term

• Temporary train stations built where stations flooded
• The army built temporary walk ways
• Over 200 people were rescued by the emergency services including the Armed Forces, RNLI, Mountain Rescue and 50 of these people were rescued by RAF helicopter. 
• 20 schools were closed and used as a shelter by those made homeless by the flooding.
• Tesco built a temporary store to serve the local area.
• A flood recovery grants scheme was set up to help local businesses within 4 days after the floods and similar funds were made available to help local residents and farmers. 

Long term

• Commercial and residential property need extensive repair due to flood damage. By November 2010, 78 businesses had started trading again with most fully reopened by March 2011
• Many of the roads damaged by the tarmac being ripped away by flood waters and the damaged bridges were repaired and replaced. 
• The Environment agency spent £500,000 on flood protection improvements including higher defence walls, new higher embankments and floodgates. The river Cocker is also to be dredged to help it cope with higher water levels at times of heavy rain. These are to be maintained but with limited funding.