The Lynmouth Flood Disaster

The devastation of the Lynmouth flood hits home as the clean up operation begins.

Torrential downpours on the on 15 and 16 August 1952 caused nine inches or twenty-three centimetres of rain to fall in twenty-four hours on saturated ground around Exmoor. The swollen rivers broke banks, debris blocked culverts and the water gushed uncontrollably towards the sea at Lynmouth sweeping away houses and causing widespread devastation to the town. In all thirty-four lives were lost. A memorial garden at Middleham was created between Lynmouth and Watersmeet.

The local photographer R.L. Knight took up a moving image camera from his photography shop in Barnstaple and filmed the immediate aftermath of this devastating flash flood over three days. The Rhenish Tower on Lynmouth quay was rebuilt in 1954 and a Flood Memorial Hall stands at the site of the old lifeboat station that was washed away. At the time there was no compelling satellite data to predict such freakish weather. The UK is prone to tropical storms coming off the Atlantic and improved meteorological forecast modelling, new flood warning and prevention schemes and hydrology modelling have helped mitigate some of the risk associated with natural disasters.