Storm Event
The earliest record of flooding of the Thames Estuary
Source
No known sources of information.
Pathway
Coastal flooding was reported in England, Belgium, and the Netherlands (Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). In the UK, an account recalls that “the sea came out upon the shore” (Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, quoted in Lowe, 1870). This is the earliest record of flooding of the Thames Estuary, as recorded by the Anglosaxon Chronicle of 1099 (Lavery and Donovan, 2005). The Thames overflowed its banks in many places near the river mouth, and a famous estate owned by Earl Goodwin was submerged, and it is alleged that it could not be drained and become the sand bank known as Goodwin Sands (Entick, 1766).
Receptor and Consequence
“The sea-flood sprung up to such a height, and did so much harm, as no man remembered that it ever did before” (Lowe, 1870). Very many men, and innumerable oxen and sheep were buried (Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, quoted in Lowe, 1870). This flood is regarded as one of the notable floods of the River Thames that lead to loss of life (Flood Modeller Suite, 2016). Records suggest that 100,000 people were killed in the UK and the Netherlands by coastal floods in 1099 (Taylor Redd, 2012; Haigh and Bradshaw, 2015).
Summary Table
| Loss of life | Records suggest that 100,000 people were killed in the UK and the Netherlands by coastal floods in 1099. Other reports noted that “men very many…were buried” and that notable loss of life occurred due to flooding of the River Thames. |
| Residential property | Towns were buried |
| Evacuation & Rescue | * |
| Cost | * |
| Ports | * |
| Transport | * |
| Energy | * |
| Public services | * |
| Water & wastewater | * |
| Livestock | “oxen and sheep innumerable” [were buried] |
| Agricultural land | * |
| Coastal erosion | * |
| Natural environment | * |
| Cultural heritage | * |
| Coastal defences | * |
*No known sources of information available
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References
- Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011. Flood. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/flood (Accessed: 9 December 2016).
- Lowe, E. J. (1870). Natural Phenomena and Chronology of the Seasons. London: Bell and Dalby. Available at: https://archive.org/details/naturalphenomen00lowegoog.
- Lavery, S. and Donovan, B. (2005). ‘Flood risk management in the Thames Estuary looking ahead 100 years’. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society 363, pp. 1455–1474.
- Entick, J. (1766). A new and accurate history and survey of London, Westminster, Southwark, and places adjacent; containing whatever is most worthy of notice in their ancient and present state. Available at: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=CbMHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=london+flood+1099&source=bl&ots=C4hu_AiF4A&sig=7ftJW4uX2CPi9QUtYRgW6GfXEh0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjx8JvTj-bQAhVHvY8KHSFgDF04ChDoAQgkMAI#v=onepage&q=london%20flood%201099&f=false.
- Flood Modeller Suite, (2016). Tidal flooding, England. Available at: https://www.floodmodeller.com/en-gb/about/numbers-and-clients/clients/1d/tidal-flooding-england/ (Accessed: 9 December 2016).
- Taylor Redd, N. (2012). ‘Flood facts, types of flooding, floods in history’. Live Science. Available at: http://www.livescience.com/23913-flood-facts.html (Accessed: 9 December 2016).
- Haigh, I. and Bradshaw, E. (2015). ‘A century of UK coastal flooding’. Planet Earth Winter 2015, pp. 22–23. Available at: http://www.bodc.ac.uk/about/presentations_and_papers/documents/planetearth_win15.pdf.