What are some famous floods?

Answer 1

Major UK Floods

In recent history the worst floods to hit the UK were probably held to be the floods of 1947. There had been a lot of heavy snowfall in this year which underwent a sudden and unexpected thaw and extremely heavy rain. This resulted in widespread flooding across the UK with many rivers breaking their banks. Flooding occurred all over the country with the Fens, the Midlands, East Anglia, the South and parts of Yorkshire most badly hit. In the 1950s the East Coast of the UK was also badly hit when high winds and North Sea surges flooded this coastal area.

Until recent years floods seemed to be isolated incidents. Notable major UK floods during this period included:

• 1979 - Llandovery in Wales stands on the flood plains of various rivers. Following a river breach in 1979 the area has been flooded in 1987 and 1998.
• 1998 - in 1998 heavy rain caused flooding in the Midlands with estimates of nine weeks of rain falling in two days.
• 2000 - in the Autumn of 2000 Rossett in Wales suffered severe flooding following heavy rainfall and uncontrollable river levels.
• 2004 - in this year the Conwy Valley in Wales saw its flood embankments breached two times in one year causing severe flooding. This year also saw the famous flood at Boscastle when two rivers burst their banks.
• 2007 - the worst flooding in modern history occurred in 2007. Floods here caused significant damage to Northern Ireland, East Yorkshire, the Midlands, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and South Wales. This flooding is held to be at a similar level - if not worse - than the great floods of 1947.

Answer 2

Of course the most famous flood of all time was the Great Flood that is alluded to in The Bible. Some more modern ones include Johnstown, PA in 1889 and the Rapid City, SD flood in 1972.