Bristol Channel floods, 1607

The floods in the Bristol Channel in 1607 were the most serious natural disaster that hit the UK in historical times.

Course and possible causes

At noon on the 20th Januarjul. / January 30 1607greg. the coasts were hit on both sides of the Bristol Channel by an unusually high shaft. The most prolific contemporary source said, a zwölfseitigem print from 1607 (A true report of certaine wonderfull ouerflowings of Waters, now lately in Summerset -shire, Norfolke and other places of England ... ), the flood occurred unexpectedly at blue sky on and broke through in many places the coastal dikes and flooded many low-lying villages in Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire and on the opposite shore in Wales. Around 2,000 people are believed to have drowned, particularly strongly the city of Cardiff was made. Be found in many churches in the region today level markings that indicate the peak of the flood wave.

On the causes of the flood is confusion, for centuries the event was usually regarded as storm surge. The first time in 1913 formulated thesis that an earthquake had triggered the tsunami, received by a publication in 2002 and a new impetus by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 as a result some attention in the English daily press. For instance, called for a tsunami expert at the University of Cardiff in the Times in 2005, to take preventive measures in the event of another tsunami in the region in attack, as it is one of the " most endangered by tsunamis cities worldwide " the principal at Cardiff.