Tide fears recede as surge passes

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Tide fears recede as surge passes

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 Update: LONDON —  A powerful
storm in the North Sea kicked up surging waters that forced the
Netherlands to close floodgates at Europe's largest port and Britain to
evacuate residents in eastern England on Friday.

In the Netherlands,
the new Maeslant Barrier protecting the mouth of Rotterdam Port was
closed for the first time under storm conditions, halting all ship
traffic, officials said.

[q
url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7086280.stm"]Fears of
widespread flooding in eastern England have diminished as tides peaked
without major breaches of sea defences.

High water in the Norfolk town of Great Yarmouth passed without
major damage being caused, and people have been told they can return to
their homes.

The Environment Agency said surge levels were expected to be nearly 8in (20cm) lower than originally feared.

But residents living along the Kent coast have been told to remain vigilant as high tides are expected later.[/q]

 Surges are caused mainly by the action of wind on the surface
of the sea, with barometric pressure a secondary factor. When
pressure decreases by one millibar, sea level rises by one centimetre.
Thus, a deep depression with a central pressure of about 960 mb
causes sea level to rise half a metre above the level it would
have been had pressure been about average (1013 mb). When air
pressure is high, sea level falls correspondingly. The greatest storm surge on record for the North Sea occurred
on 31 January and 1 February 1953. The surge height reached 2.74
m at Southend in Essex, 2.97 m at King's Lynn in Norfolk and 3.36
m in the Netherlands. The storm that caused the disastrous surge at the end of
January 1953 was among the worst to visit the UK in the
20th century. Hurricane-force winds had blown down more
trees in Scotland than were normally felled in a year. A
car ferry, the Princess Victoria, on passage from Stranraer
in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland, sank with the
loss of 133 lives - only 41 of the passengers and crew survived.
From Yorkshire to the Thames Estuary, coastal defences had
been pounded by the sea and given way under the onslaught.

Around the UK, the effect of a strong wind coupled with very
low pressure can be to raise sea level in eastern England more
than two metres. Fortunately, though, large positive surges tend
to favour mid-tide. They rarely coincide with high water.

miamipress.net 

[q
url="http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1292155,00.html"]A
massive tidal surge that could lead to disastrous flooding is
threatening to hit the east coast.

A flood expert told Sky News unless swift action is taken "we could
have a significant number of deaths", as evacuations from the areas at
risk began.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told the House of Commons a
surge "of up to three metres is making its way down the North Sea".

Baroness Young, Environment Agency chief executive, told Sky News:
"A surge wave is expected between seven and eight o'clock tomorrow
morning, with Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft likely to be the worst hit."

Eight severe flood warnings have been announced across East Anglia,
the Norfolk Broads and the coast south of Great Yarmouth. Police
evacuations have begun in the latter.

Norfolk Police Anne Campbell told Sky News: "We have taken the
decision to evacuate some of the most honourable people in the Great
Yarmouth area ahead of this expected high water early tomorrow
morning."[/q]