Flood Management: Bradford Paper

In February 1990 severe storms hit most of Britain, and in Towyn, a seaside resort in North Wales – the effects were dramatic. The force of the sea caused a breach in the sea defences which resulted in large‐scale flooding affecting in the region of 2,400 properties and causing in the biggest evacuation to take place in Britain since the war. The disaster had not been anticipated by the local authority and no one had experience of dealing with this scale of event. As with most disasters, a large number of people were involved and scores of organizations carried out a multitude of tasks under difficult circumstances. Many of the problems were long‐term, especially those dealing with stress and aftercare. Despite the complexity and scale of the tasks the local authority, working with other organizations, successfully dealt with this disaster. Addresses some of the many problems faced at Towyn and examines the management systems and network systems which evolved to deal with this event.