Boscastle Flood

16th August 2004

The first hint that something was going seriously wrong in Boscastle came just before 2pm, when the cast iron manhole covers in the main street began to gently twitch from the force of the water underneath. The Victorian sewers were clearly not coping with the vast quantities of water they were having to carry.

It had been raining for more than an hour; but it was not the normal mid-summer storm that regularly sends tourists, clutching their pasties and ice creams, scurrying for cover in this part of the north Cornish coast. Instead it was rain of a biblical intensity, cascading off roofs and bouncing high off the pavements so that umbrellas offered little protection. Not only was the rain extremely intense, 185mm fell in just 5 hours, there was also a huge volume of water dumped on the tiny drainage basin. It is estimated that 3 millions tones of water were added to the drainage basin which is only 40km sq.

Rain of this intensity had no chance of infiltrating into the thin soils. This was made even less likely by the fact they were already saturated from several wet days earlier in the week.

Boscastle stands in a deep narrow valley where three rivers meet, the river Valency, the river Jordan, and the river Paradise. The village is at the mouth of the river. There is a small harbor at the mouth where several little boats are moored. Although there is some forestry along the valley, the majority of the drainage basin is used for farmland.

Where the River Valency meets the River Jordan, by the harbour, Di Johnson was working in the Rocky Road art gallery, selling African art and jewellery, when the sky turned black.

"We didn't really notice it at first because it had been raining for a while," she said. "We shut the door of the shop trying to stop the water getting in, thinking it was a small summer downpour, but then we watched the water go higher and higher against the doorstep. I remember having to turn on the lights because it was so dark even though it was only mid afternoon.

Human chain

At 3pm the village was plunged into darkness as an almighty flash of lightening struck the main electricity pylon that brought power to the village.

"Everyone started to scream, because it was black outside and the electricity had gone down. The flood water was rising so quickly we realised we had to get out. We put a board across the door to stop the water coming in and we climbed over it and formed a human chain to get out of the water and over to the other side."

As emergency calls began to come in, the first rescue helicopter, from the RAF was set for at 4 pm. Within five minutes Flight Lieutenant John Evans and his crew were on their way to the scene.

"When we arrived there was lightning and heavy rain which made the rescue very hazardous," he said. He also commented “The valley is so narrow it makes it extremely difficult to maneuver a helicopter’

There soon became an increasing number of calls requesting the helicopter ,as people climbed to their roves as their properties became submerged in water.

Mr Mason was one of them ‘A wall of water burst through my shops windows started smashing everything up in my shop, my father and I got on to the roof climbed through the skylight where we were lucky to be rescued by the helicopter.

By 4.30 the fire service began fielding calls. "It was absolute bedlam when it started to kick off last night," said Matt Littmoden, the chief fire officer of Cornwall fire brigade. "We had 170 calls from Boscastle and we couldn’t go to all of them. I had to priorities them. We dispatching the first of 17 engines to the scene, the firefighters focused on saving old people and children. We had to ignore peoples whose homes were flooded and focus on those who were in danger of loosing their lives’

Emergency effort was hampered by village geography. Phone lines and mobile masts were down and even emergency service radios did not work at the bottom of the steep valley.

Ron Muffett was in his restaurant, the Old Manor House, by the harbour when a friend pointed out that the river was inches from the top of its bank.

He also watched as the debris started to collect behind the narrow road bridge. As the debris increased and was joined by huge trees, it became evident that it was acting as a dam. He realised that if the bridge collapsed a wall of water would hit his restaurant. Mr Muffett rapidly retreated minutes before the floodwaters engulfed his restaurant.

The wall of water picked up everything in its path. Homes and up-market gift shops near the harbour were swiftly inundated with floodwater, laying waste to everything in them.

George Findlay, 64, a local handyman, could only watch as the river carried everything before him "There was 10ft wall of water ‘ he said “It was going past at 40mph. There we0re vans and motor homes going down it. You can't imagine it. Then I saw the Clovelly Clothing shop move 20ft and just collapse. The water was going in the back of the Wellington Hotel and coming through the front windows one storey up. Beer barrels were coming out on the water like corks."

By 5.15pm the situation was becoming desperate, and one of the rescue pilots radioed for backup: " Pass to all emergency services. This is a major incident, repeat major incident. We request all the standby aircraft available and all available land-based emergency crews as we are in danger of losing Boscastle and all the people in it.”.

Mr Muffet's wife and daughter were pulled out of the Old Manor House by fire fighters as the community came out in force to help. "We went and opened the village hall," said Mr Findlay. "People were wet and soaked and there was no electricity but we found some gas burners and got cups of tea, dry towels, and some of the women made sandwiches."

By evening, there were over 100 locals and holidaymakers huddled in the hall, being looked after by the emergency services.

In morning on the 17th August the floodwaters had begun to recede. The person of Boscastle woke to a devastated village, but also to the miracle that no one lost there lives.

Despite this the flood did leave its mark, 150 people had to be airlifted or rescued, 4 properties were completed destroyed, 100 homes and businesses were damaged. 115 cars were swept away, roads, bridges were damaged and the infrastructure broken (electricity, communication). In addition there was the added fear of diseases as the damaged sewers leaked drained into the river.

The rebuilding of Boscastle cost £50 million, but Boscastle’s tourism industry may never recover as people remain wary of visiting the village incase the floods are repeated.