Photos reveal impact of biggest storm surge to hit British shores in 60 years

Drone photographs mapping part of the British coastline have revealed the long-lasting impact of the biggest storm surge to hit our shores in 60 years.

A year ago today, a tidal surge devastated stretches of the east coast, damaging and destroying homes and disrupting natural habitats.

Now researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) are using remote piloted aircraft to study areas along the East Anglian coast which were hit by the surge on December 5 last year. Words: PA

Although damage to flood defences was much lower in 2013 than in 1953, there was still extensive change to the coastline, damage to sea walls, and saltwater flooding, they found.

In some areas sediment was transported more than 100 metres inland, in places filling-in protected lagoon habitats.

Trevor Tolhurst, lead scientist on the project, said: "This project is a once in a lifetime opportunity to collect data to improve our understanding of the impacts of a severe natural event and investigate how these events are perceived and responded to.

"Due to their rarity, our understanding of the impacts of these large storm surges on coastal habitats is poor. It is essential that such events are included in the investigation of future changes to our coasts and in the development of appropriate response strategies.

"There is a challenge in translating scientific knowledge into real-world decision-making. This project is engaging with local communities and coastal managers in north Norfolk and bodies such as the Environment Agency to better inform decision making.

"The resulting strategies will, we hope, benefit the entire coastline of the country, its habitats and those living close to it, in the future.

"But this is just the first step, longer-term work is required to determine how the coastal environment and local populace recover from such extreme events."

The work is part of a Natural Environment Research Council funded short-term project to better understand the initial environmental and social impacts caused by the 2013 storm surge and the resulting saltwater flooding.

It could help improve response to such events in the future and mitigate their impact.

Coastal habitats are socially and economically important, supporting significant wildlife populations, protecting the coastline against erosion, and are used for recreation and attracting tourists who boost the economy, researchers said.

The threat from climate change to these habitats has been globally recognised and a better understanding of the processes that shape these habitats could help maintain them for wildlife and society.

This project is addressing existing gaps in knowledge by investigating coastal seawater flooding and the impacts it has on vegetation, soil organisms, carbon and nitrogen cycles.

The drones produce very high resolution photos and topographic maps of parts of the north Norfolk coastline.

These maps chart the storm surge breaches in the man-made coastal defences along the North Norfolk Coastal Path near Blakeney, and breaches and sediment movement along the Cley to Salthouse gravel barrier.

Tony Dolphin, coastal scientist and remote aircraft pilot at Cefas, said: "Using these images we should for the first time be able to calculate the amounts of sediment that move in these surges, the distances they move in a few hours, and possibly even the direction and velocity of the flows.

"Coastal managers need this information to better understand why certain areas might be vulnerable to flooding and how to mitigate the effects.

"While data is still being processed and the projects findings won't be published until later in 2015, the effects of the surge are already becoming clearer."

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