Weather
Could it happen here one day?
From the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, first published Friday 7th Jan 2005.
WHEN asked whether a tsunami could ever hit the Lancashire coast, one of the country's leading experts is quick to warn that the possibility shouldn't be ruled out.
In fact, Professor Michael Disney names the Lancashire coastline as one of three areas in the UK which could possibly suffer such a natural disaster.
But he qualifies it by pointing out that the chances are very, very slim.
Prof Disney, a consultant to NASA and a professor of astronomy at Cardiff University, said: "The problem is that people here have not had a tidal wave in recent history so they dismiss the whole idea.
"In 1755 Lisbon in Portugal was wiped out by a tidal wave. At least 30,000 people were killed, probably 50,000, and, if you allow for today's populations, that would be several hundred thousand if it happened now.
"If you can have tidal waves in Lisbon, you can certainly get them in the lower lying parts of Western Europe."
Prof Disney is preparing a report he plans to give to the Government calling for residents to do more to prepare for a tidal wave disaster.
He cites the East Coast, Lancashire's seaside area and the Bristol Channel as areas at risk in the UK.
He said: "We need an Atlantic tsunami warning system. People in low-lying areas need to be informed of an alarm system and there needs to be a proper evacuation plan for their locality so everybody knows what to do.
"If everybody jumped in their cars and headed for the motorways there would be a traffic jam and everybody could drown."
Tsunamis caused by earthquakes, such as the one in Asia, are not as prevalent here, but other causes, such as sub-marine landslides, make them possible.
A volcano eruption in the Canary Islands could trigger a wave in the Atlantic which could affect as far away as the UK and America.
"Thanks to mapping of the seabed around the coast of Western Europe we can see signs of large landslides all over the sea floor," said Professor Disney.
And it is something Lancashire County Council is prepared for. It spearheads all emergency planning in the county, working with all the other agencies which would become involved if a disaster happened. And preparing for 'tidal flooding' has already taken place.
But the centre, an underground bunker at a stately home on the outskirts of Preston, is more likely to deal with countless other emergencies before a tidal wave takes out parts of the county.
Floods, oil spills, bomb blasts -- Lancashire's Emergency Centre has dealt with them all.
Plans of how to deal with a sinking ferry full of bikers going to the Isle of Man are listed on the wall, along with pictures of planes similar to the ones which smashed into the World Trade Centre.
But not because they are expecting a mini attack on Blackburn Town Hall -- they are the main type to go in and out of Blackpool Airport.
Details of setting up grief centres, appeal funds for tragedies and accommodating foreign refugees are all marked.
As are details of coping with other emergencies -- such as foot and mouth disease.
Bernard Kershaw, emergency planning officer for Lancashire County Council, said: "The topography, geology and so on of the UK makes something on the same scale as seen in Asia highly unlikely, but we do get emergencies with the weather.
"In the first instance, the emergency services do what they have to, and then we work together on the welfare side of things, such as housing people who have been evacuated and so on."
The last tsunami to hit these shores was in London in 1091.
Flooding from rain is the most probable cause of an emergency in Lancashire, which is why the Environment Agency is spending millions improving defences in threatened area.
But the public can play their part. The Environment Agency has called on more residents in Blackburn with Darwen to join its free link to reduce the impact of future floods.
Despite similar widespread damage caused in Waterfall, Blackburn, in 2002; the Wranglings in 1989, and Duckworth Street in 1989, of 796 homes in the three high risk areas, only 56 have signed up to the Government-run agency's scheme- just seven per cent.
Those registered receive phone calls warning them of anticipated flooding and advice on what to do. Similar schemes are being set up elsewhere in East Lancashire.
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