River elbe Flashcards
(6 cards)
IMPACTS
- In Germany over 600,000 people were affected by the floods in 2013.
14 people died and 128 injured. 80,000 residents evacuated. 32,000 homes were damaged by floods in 2013. Leading to psychological stress worrying about floods in future. Damage to personal belongings upsetting as personal belongings increased.
- The German transport networks were significantly disrupted by the flooding or by landslides caused by the floods 700 kilometres of road and 150 bridges were damaged.
The German railways corporation had to close 60 rail routes in the aftermath of the flood the important high speed connections between Berlin and Hanover were disrupted for five months this interrupted services between the capital and important cities such as Cologne and Frankfurt. Greatly impacting businesses and people ability to move around the country and get to and from work. disruption to business activities amounted to 12.9 billion therefore having a big negative economic impact
- The Prague water levels rose 5 metres above normal
the metro stations had to close as they were under water, greatly disrupting commuters therefore having a negative impact on businesses.
Tigers and lions in the city zoo had to be tranquilised and move location. Chemical factories were ordered to close to present toxic pollution leakages this led to a huge economic loss for these businesses
PHYSICAL CAUSES OF FLOOD
the spring weather preceding the floo…. of the three wettest in the last 156 years reaching values over 100 MM (twice as much rain as normal in a month) this led to the ground becoming saturated and impermeable so when more rain fell there was nowhere for the water to go apart from the surface into the river quickly rising its level and causing it to flood
2.widespread precipitation over most of the drainage basin as a result the tributaries of the El portal fallen bringing more water into the main channel at the same time this led to water levels rising rapidly leading to flooding
3. The heavy rain occurred very early summer at a time that snow in the mountains near the source was melting. This meant that the discharge of the river was already high and channels full the reservoirs were already also full so could not hold any more water back
HUMAN CAUSES OF FLOOD
URBANISATION: through many settlements built close to the river EG Hamburg Germany this leads to more impermeable surfaces unless infiltration as a result there is more surface runoff so precipitation gets into the river very quickly raising the water levels when the river burst its banks there is less permeable surfaces to soak up the water increasing the impact of floods.
DEFORESTATION: the Elbe has lost 80% of its flood plains and forests which originally were able to absorb an intercept some of the water, reducing water reaching the ground and river also less trees meaning less water taken out of the soil so they become saturated quicker
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES: Soil compaction through the intensification of agriculture: Compacted soils have less space to accommodate increased amounts of rainwater, thus, soils are saturated more quickly, and water begins to accumulate on top of fields and runs off into streams and rivers.
GENERAL BACKROUND
The river elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. The 4th largest in Europe.
24 million people live within its drainage basin including cities of Prague and hamburg
Source: krkonse mountains of Northern Czech republic
Course/ mouth: Flows through Czech republic, then Germany and flows into the north sea 68 miles northwest of hamburg. Its total length is 680 miles
OPPORTUNITIES PROVIDED FOR PEOPLE BY THE RIVER ELBE
RIVER TRANSPORT. the river has been navigable by commercial vessels since 1842 providing important trade links as far inland as Prague. Cargoes on the river include coal, lumber, salt, fertilizers, sugar, wheat, Rye. Cattle food, paper, glass, machinery.
The river is linked by canals to the industrial areas of Germany and to Berlin. This has been very important in the economic development and industrial growth in this area as it allows raw materials and products to be transported with ease. As a result this has led to employment and economic stability
WATER SUPPLY: Fresh water is vital. It has allowed 24 million people to live within the drainage basin. Having a fresh water supply attracts settlement to grow and people live. Providing A labour supply it also means less money is spent on transporting water from elsewhere therefore saving money.
Hydroelectric power. a number of HEP power plants have been built along the river these provide cheap green renewable energy for Germany it helps reduce their carbon emissions to producing 19.5 M GW of energy.
photo the river floods in the lower course and has created for floodplains along with other rivers as a result minerals have been to add it to the soils making the soil fertile and good for agriculture this region is called the north German plain therefore this is certain employment and economic growth
river cruises/ tourism: River elbe is popular to tourists . River boat trips and cruises allow tourists to appreciate the beautiful landscapes as a result of this many jobs are created on foreign currency to bring into the country helping boost the economy.
Management of the river flood
The room for river project is being implemented which is a space for flooding planned in areas where minimum damage would occur
Hamburg’s strategy is 100K M of embankments walls are built to protect settlements. (HARD)
ADVANTAGES: can be very effective embankments increase the amount of water a river can hold and walls stop water reaching particular areas
DISADVANTAGES: very expensive needs to be maintained embankments can burst allowing flood water into an area with catastrophic impacts
hamburg also uses sandbags in mobile metal barriers used to protect houses and buildings.
SOFT
ADVANTAGES: can be temporary cheap in comparison to other methods
can be effective and moved to areas which need them
DISADVANTAGES: need warning time to put them in place
may not be placed in most vulnerable areas
does not prevent the river bursting its banks
MAGDEBURG: embankments are being raised to 6.5 metres in height and reinforced to cope with larger floods. (SOFT)
ADVANTAGES: the river will be able to hold a greater volume of water before floods therefore reducing the risk of flooding
DISADVAN very expensive needs to be maintained embankments can burst allowing flood water into an area with catastrophic DISADVANTAGES: very expensive needs to be maintained.
Embankments can burst allowing flood water into an area with catastrophic impacts
embankments being moved back to give the river more space to flood (ROOM FOR RIVER) (HARD)
ADVANTAGES: by moving the embankments back away from the river allows even more water to be held before flooding can occur.
the embankments hold back the water protecting areas from flood water
DISAVANTAGES: takes up more land
very expensive
needs to be maintained embankments can burst allowing flood water into an area with catastrophic impacts
DRESDEN: Higher embankments and stronger walls and metal flood barriers (HARD)
ADVANTAGES: these physically increase the height of the riverbank so therefore increase the rivers capacity before it floods therefore reducing the risk if floods
DISADVANTAGES:
unsightly
costly
needs be maintained
