The Hamburg Flood in Public Memory Culture
Today, the Storm Flood of 1962 forms an integral part of local and national memory culture. Public commemoration events, monuments, and media coverage assure that the disaster is not forgotten.
Today, the Storm Flood of 1962 forms an integral part of local and national memory culture. Public commemoration events, monuments, and media coverage assure that the disaster is not forgotten.
Only in recent times have serious historical studies been published about floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, storm tides, forest-fires, and other natural disasters and their effects on human life.
The Great Flood of 1962 was the most devastating natural disaster to strike Germany in the twentieth century. In Hamburg, over one hundred thousand people were trapped by the water, and 315 people died, despite massive rescue operations.
The North Sea flood of 1953 caused widespread damage and approximately 2,400 fatalities in the UK, the Netherlands, and Belgium. As devastating as it was, the flood also triggered many changes in how the countries surrounding the North Sea manage their flood risk, including the development of improved warning systems and various protection schemes.
In 1969, the Georgian resort of Pitsunda and its beach were severely damaged by a storm. This was largely due to an ongoing process of coastal erosion caused by anthropogenic influences.
Die Hamburger Sturmflut von 1962 is an in-depth historical study of the 1962 storm flood that devastated Hamburg and Germany. It compares the flood to others in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, while reflecting on the sociocultural and technological contexts of the time.
Engineering the Lower Shinano River in northeastern Japan expanded the risk of other flood and tsunami damage.
Fredriksson et al. discuss the relationship between flood risk management and collective memory.
Flood memory in Townsville is strong, but this does not align with the city’s capacity to live sustainably with floods.
The 2019 flooding of Townsville in northern Australia proved that Queensland’s dry tropical environment is a temperamental master.