Day 193/24. Lynmouth from my little drone.

The very beautiful, tranquil village of Lynmouth.

On Friday 15 August 1952, the tiny village of Lynmouth suffered what could be described as the worst river flood in English history.

On the day itself, just over 9 inches of rain fell, 6 inches of which fell in a few short hours in the afternoon/early evening. Add in the 6 inches of rain that had already fallen in the first two weeks of August, then it is no surprise that the top of Exmoor was unable to absorb the rainfall and was totally overwhelmed.

It was estimated that 90 million tons of rain fell in North Devon and West Somerset on that day.

This rainfall flooded into the many tributaries of the East and West Lyn rivers and, consequently, many tons of water, soil, boulders and vegetation descended through the narrow valleys of Exmoor from 1500 mfeet up on the moor to meet at sea level in Lynmouth itself. On its way, various bridges blocked the flow until they collapsed and subsequently a wall of water and rubble hit Lynmouth in the late evening.
Effectively, Lynmouth was destroyed during that night.

The statistics make incredible reading. The West Lyn river rose 60 feet above the normal level at its highest point; 34 people in the wider area lost their lives – 28 in the Lynmouth area alone.