1953 Floods And Drought
By Paul Homewood
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-64414388
As you know, I like sometimes to go back in history and recall some of the extreme weather we used to have then. It is always a sobering experience, and puts into perspective the hype we get nowadays about every bit of bad weather.
So that I cannot be accused of cherry picking, I always go back in tens of years, so this post is devoted to 1953.
It should come as no surprise that I start with the Great North Sea Flood, which the BBC recalled earlier this year:
On the night of 31 January 1953, a wall of water surged from the North Sea, over-topping sea defences and leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.
A massive storm brought devastation to the east coast of England and claimed more than 300 lives, including 43 in Lincolnshire, 26 of whom were aged over 70.
It is widely regarded as one of the worst peacetime disasters to hit the country in the last century.
Badly hit though England was, the death toll in the Netherlands was far worse, killing more than 1800.
A few months later, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth took place in the middle of what the late Philip Eden described as the worst June weather of the century, so wet and cold was it.
Towards the end of the month, thunderstorms brought severe flooding. At Eskdalemuir 80mm of rain fell in 30 minutes, still a record for the UK:
https://digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk/SO_117f3d90-8d43-4b42-945b-700e0cbcfa3d/
In the US, Major floods occurred in four areas during 1953: western Oregon and northwestern California, Louisiana and adjacent States, the Missouri River basin in Montana, and northwestern Iowa:
https://www.usgs.gov/publications/summary-floods-united-states-during-1953
Japan also experienced two major flooding events that summer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Northern_Kyushu_flood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Wakayama_flood
Drought
While some parts of the USA were being inundated, others were in the middle of years long severe droughts, notably Texas and California:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droughts_in_the_United_States#1950s
Tomorrow we’ll look at hurricanes and tornadoes.
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
My family moved to Felixstowe in 1956, just three years later. The waterline from the floods was still visible on a lot of seafront houses. At the level of the first floor windows. Which, for the benefit of foreign readers, is the upper floor of a 2 story building in UK.
My great grandfather retired to Felixstowe and had to escape, aged 96, through an upper floor window.
Apparently he said that ‘it didn’t do him any good!’
He only lasted two more years, dying at the ripe old age of 98.
Hi Paul. My younger brother has lived in Texas for years, and I just received this blog from the Texas Tribune:
“As brutal heat tests Texas’ power grid, batteries play a small but growing role in keeping the lights on.
Last Wednesday, batteries provided more electricity to Texas homes and businesses than ever before as the state grid operator entered emergency operations for the first time this year as it sought to meet high demand.
A growing number of batteries sent 2,172 megawatts to the grid on that critical evening — just under 3% of the overall supply. One megawatt can power about 200 homes when demand is high, meaning during that moment last week batteries dispatched enough electricity to power roughly 434,000 homes at that moment. Rows of utility-scale batteries vary from about the size of schoolhouse lockers to large shipping containers.
Most batteries charge up when electricity is cheapest, like early in the morning, and discharge for one to two hours in the evening before recharging again. Over the years, battery power sent to the Texas power grid has increased— from 275 megawatts in 2020 to more than 3,500 operating on the grid today. There are certain benefits that come with battery power:
The decreasing cost of producing batteries and tax incentives via the federal Inflation Reduction Act have helped the power source become more attractive.
Also, it’s a power source that’s not dependent on certain weather conditions like wind or solar power.
And unlike gas-fueled plants, batteries don’t produce greenhouse gas emissions.
Although the state excluded solar, wind and battery storage from property tax benefits, battery storage production is still accelerating. In 2024, about 7,500 megawatts of battery storage projects are set to begin operation and have cleared key legal and financial hurdles. ”
Paul, I don’t know how to reply to my brother; can you help me out here?
And unlike gas-fueled plants, batteries don’t produce greenhouse gas emissions.
They don’t *produce* anything, they can only store what’s produced elsewhere. With fuel-powered electricity generation the fuel itself takes the role of the battery hence much cheaper.
Overall the renewable cost must include the windmill cost and the battery cost. One is basically useless at grid scale without the other. No-one considers the steam generator or the gas turbine separately from the electricity generator.
Hi Oldbrew, just followed your advice re Javascript and the Telegraph. Thanks I can now read all articles subscription free! I had no idea it could be that easy.
Batteries have to be replaced, likely in 10 to 15 years, just like a standard auto battery. As more are installed, there will be regular failure and replacement. Will subsidizes be available for that and for the disposal of the old ones?
A nuke plant or two would actually produce electricity and last many years.
The Columbia Generating Station entered commercial operation in December 1984. It produces 1,207 megawatts net of electricity.
A graph (5 minute up-dates) shows that in the “cobalt-colored” line.
https://transmission.bpa.gov/Business/Operations/Wind/baltwg.aspx
Federal subsidies do not reduce the cost they just spread it differently.
notify comments
Of course todays weather events are “unprecedented” …… unless you look at history. This should be sent to most of the UK press. “Unprecedented” has developed a new meaning in weather reporting: “I don’t remember this happening before, so it must never have occurred and must be due to climate change”
Unprecedented?
The Great Flood of moray, 1829. The ‘Muckle Spate’ saw the water rise to one foot under the central span of Telford’s famous Craigellachie Bridge.
Washed out by extreme river levels, rabbits and hares were spotted sitting on logs 10 miles out at sea from passing fishing boats.
It is interesting that in all of this extreme weather in 1953 there was no apparent influence from the ENSO… no El-Nino, no La-Nina.
I was only 9 years old at the time, but I vividly remember the east coast flood of 1953. The repercussions were still apparent decades later. As a family we had moved to Lincolnshire 2 years earlier.
It goes without saying that such an event today would be seen as absolute proof, PROOF, dammit!!! – of ‘man made climate change’.
Especially as it was hot on the heels of the Lynmouth flood the previous August. Britain’s worst in which 34 drowned. Boscastle, similarly located to Lynmouth, experienced a similar magnitude event in 2004, though this passed without fatality. Our numbers just don’t compare but still the nation lives in fear and trembling of the impact of you know what.
O/T. Speaking of disasters.
‘Incompatible charger ‘turned scooter into a bomb’
Aerial pictures showed the aftermath of a fire caused by a charging e-scooter that devastated a family home.
The blaze in Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, on 3 September destroyed almost everything inside the house and was so intense it left a hole in the roof.
Eddie MacGregor was on a day out with his family when it happened and he has now warned about the dangers of charging electric bikes and scooters.
He said: “A lot of chargers out there can be bought with one click and you assume they’re compatible but in fact they have the capacity to turn your scooter into a bomb.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66788434
I wonder if the solar panels on the roof caused a problem with the homes electricity supply ?
It’s possible that on a sunny day the circuitry could have malfunctioned
The flood of 2023 in Libya will be remembered by the folks there, just as 1953 is held in the minds of northern Europeans.
From a BBC article:
“Much of Derna, which is home to about 100,000 people, is under water after two dams and four bridges collapsed.”
The dams appear to be earthern with a core, rather than concrete and steel.
Other news sources show video. Lat/Long for each:
32.75318, 22.631307 north dam near city
32.659411, 22.577051 12 km south of city
The Google Earth image from July ’23, shows the reservoir behind each totally devoid of water. The flood plain down-valley (north) of the larger dam is occupied by agriculture, the canyon for much of the 12 km is narrow. At the northern most dam, the city spreads out on the delta.
The flood defences onCanvey Island are impressive.
For good reason. Still, I prefer to live on higher ground — 683 m. currently.