Rainfall and Flooding

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Rainfall and Flooding

The flooding in York was due to the great amount of rainfall in the area, for example, in one year the average total rainfall for Folkestone is 740 millimetres but during the floods in York there was over 220 millimetres in just three weeks, that is almost a third of what Folkestone get in one year.

The River Ouse rises in the Pennines and carries the Rainfall down the side of the mountains.  When this reaches the foot of the mountain and the flat land, it overflows onto the flood plain.  Because of the great amount of rain, the flooding spread to nearby cities such as York.

Causes of Flooding,

Aim 1: To investigate the causes of flooding in York.

Hypothesis 1: York is situated in a place that is prone to flooding

Causes of the floods:

In York in the early months of 1982 there were severe floods.  There are several explanations for the floods and as to what caused them and many people say that there should have been more done to have prevented them. However, they have past and a lot of the 2 million pounds damage has been rebuilt.  All that the people in York can do now is to work at prevention methods to stop any flooding as bad as the last, in the future.

The cause of the floods was mainly the great amount of rainfall which fell during the months around the time of flooding.  In three weeks over 220 millimetres of rain fell.  This is over one third of the total rainfall in Folkestone in one year. A lot of the rain fell on the Pennines, then the water flowed into the rivers  near the foot of the mountain such as the River Nidd, the River Ure, the River Swale and the River Wharfe.  These rivers carried the water into the River Ouse which could not handle so much water and so it flooded.  The flood spread into nearby villages and towns.  One of the towns most effected was York.

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 Although there have been other floods in York, this one was definatly the worst.  There had not been much done to prevent flooding in the area. However, if they had tried to prevent the floods then maybe some of the effects would not to have been so disastrous.

Conclusion:

My hypothesis was correct, I found out  where the rainfall had started and how this led to the severe flooding of York in 1982.  It is because York is situated in a place that is prone to flooding.  I have completed my aim 1 and have found out the ...

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