Geography Case Studies - Water on the Land

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Where was a flood event in an MEDC country?
Boscastle, Cornwall, UK
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When did it occur?
16th August 2004
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Explain the background to the flood
Ground saturated from wet August. 70mm fell in 1 hour on day. Steep-sided valley, impermeable rock. Town on where 2 rivers Valency and Jordan meet
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What were the consequences?
36 buildings destroyed or damaged, 75 cars and some boats swept away. No major injuries. Harbour damaged. 85 million pounds of damage caused. Tourist industry hurt.
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What did they do to prevent a future flood?
Spent $4.5 million on flood prevention, Car park built on higher valley away from flood plain, larger bridges built higher up away from channel, river channel made deeper and wider, and new culverts built to take away flood water
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Where was a flood event in an LEDC country?
Mozambique
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When did it occur?
2008
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Which are the rivers that are involved?
Limpopo, Save, Buzi, Zambezi
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Explain the background to the flood
Grasslands in upper courses of river destroyed. Infiltration reduced. Urbansiation means increased surface run-off. Heavy rain in Jan (heaviest rain in 50 yrs), Cyclone Eline hit on 22 Feb 2000. 28 Feb Kariba dam on R. Zambezi is opened.
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What was the effect of the dam?
Waters rose 8m in 2 days
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What were the consequences?
Thousands drowned. 1 mill people homeless. Most fertile land destroyed. Power cuts in Maputo. $30 mil needed to repair roads, $6 mil needed to repair railways, $4 mil needed to repair electricity supplies, stagnant water increased malaria
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What were the responses?
UK sent 8 helicopters, difficult to reach people in remote locations. Took 2 weeks for any other MEDCs to send help. Refugee camps set up, UN Food programme feeds 250,000 people. Looting, people desperate for food.
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How have they prepared for a future flood?
The EU gave money to start a flood warning system. This included sensors to measure rainfall in river catchment areas so people can be warned by radio to help evacuate before a flood
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Case Study for a Multi-purpose scheme dam LEDC?
Tiga Dam, Nigeria
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Describe the background to the dam
Desert area. Dry season 8 months, wet season 4 months (all year round supply of water a problem to growing cities like Kano)
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Describe the Tiga Dam
Built in 1974. 2 mil cubic metres to supply Kano with water all year and to irrigate nearby Kano Irrigation Scheme
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Benefits of the Dam locally?
People like Alhaji Inwa can grow crops all year and can employ 30 people
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Disadvantages of the Dam locally?
Local village Yashi not on Irrigation Scheme. They rely on traditional irrigation from river. However, dam is now opened at times of year to flood crops. They cannot grow the good-selling tomatoes and have to sell sugar cane which isn't worth as much
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What happened next?
In 1992, the Challawa Gorge Dam was built on same drainage basin. 1 mil cubic metres for Kano again. Both dams affected Nguru, which relied annual flooding. Flood water reduced up to 2/3rds.
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What is the plan for the future?
They intend to build a 'super' dam called Kafin Zaki Dam, which will be 2.7 mil cubic metres.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

When did it occur?

Back

16th August 2004

Card 3

Front

Explain the background to the flood

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What were the consequences?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What did they do to prevent a future flood?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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