Coastal Landscapes - Impacts of Coastal Recession & Flooding

  • Affects settlements and those who live on the coast
  • Ranges from damages include: Loss of property and death
  • Losses can be classified as economic, social or environmental
Impacts of Coastal Recession & Flooding At Holderness Coast:
  • Social costs from rapid recession include: people’s lives and families being disrupted.
  • Education and social networks are interrupted.
  • Tourism is reduced
  • Social and economic costs e.g houses collapsing may lead to mental health being affected as well as physical health
  • Losses of homes in Mappleton
  • Damage to infrastructure
Bangladesh And Coastal Erosion:
  • Delta at the Ganges River have been eroding
  • Tropical storms cause coastal flooding
  • Economic and social loss for farmers
  • Loss of jobs creating an environmental refugee.
  • Impacts are more severe because the country is poorer
  • Water borne diseases.
Coastal Flooding Impacts:
  • More severe than recession as it can impact a big area
  • Costs more and causes more deaths
  • Social and economic impacts
  • Worst impacts occur in densely populated areas
1953 Storm Surge In The UK & The Netherlands:
  • 2.5m high storm surge in the North Sea
  • 1800 dead in the Netherlands and 300 dead in the UK. Most dead along the Home Counties in England – 250 dead, and South Zeeland in the Netherlands.
  • 30k houses evacuated in the UK
  • 30k affected in the Netherlands
  • 1600km of coastline was affected in the UK
  • £50 million damage in the UK
  • Bought the Delta Works which is now the best sea defences in the world.
  • Low pressure, high tides and strong windows all contributed.
2013 Typhoon Haiyan:
  • Most powerful storm, dubbed as “Super Typhoon Haiyan”
  • Surge was 5m high
  • Tacloban destroyed by 120mph winds and coastal flooding
  • 6000 dead
  • Economic cost included: Houses lost, clean and rebuild, loss of workers and damaged infrastructure. E.g San Juanico Bridge completely destroyed.
Impacts From Eustastic Sea Level Rise In Male, Maldives:
  • Buildings flooded
  • Land lost under the ocean
  • Loss of income from tourists
  • Social impacts have been affected because of loss of homeland
Summary:
  • Flooding and erosion of coasts causes economic, social (& environmental) losses
  • Low-lying areas like estuaries, deltas and small islands most vulnerable
  • Holderness recession impacts include loss of property, damaged roads, job losses, relocation, reduced amenity value
  • 1953 storm surge from North Sea killed over 2000 people in UK and Netherlands, Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines 6000 killed
  • Storm surges are raised sea-levels due to low pressure storms, strong winds and when high tides they flood the land
  • Bangladesh is also prone to coastal flooding and erosion, with impacts such as farmland loss, disease and refugees
  • Small islands like The Maldives are at high risk due to the low-lying land and ‘environmental refugees’ are having to relocate to other countries